Wednesday, 14 February 2007

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  V-day

  Happy Valentine Days to all, especially to my neeeeeeeee!!! Also a v-day related article.
  
  Valentine Day chocolates: From the heart, or mere handovers?
  
  Look for the pricey chocolate that's otherwise hard to find and you'll know the woman who gave it to you for Valentine's Day is serious and not just handing over giri-choco, or "obligation chocolates," one of Ginza's top nightclub mama-sans tells Shukan Asahi (2/23).

  Thanks to the wonders of modern consumerism, Valentine's Day in Japan is not about lovers, but instead is seen as a time when women give men chocolate -- honmei choco is given if there's at least some semblance of warmth and the aforementioned giri-choco if it's just an obligatory gesture.

  It's not always easy, however, for men to tell whether they've received the real thing or just something that a woman has given to every guy in the office.

  That's where Shiho Masui comes in. Masui is a Ginza nightclub mama who knows over 10,000 movers and shakers in the Japanese financial world and who buys Valentine's Day chocolate for over 500 people every year.

  "I spend over 2 million yen (on Valentine's Day chocolates) every year," Shiho mama-san tells Shukan Asahi.

  Masui's top pick for honmei choco on Valentine's Day are those from Jean-Paul Hevin.

  "They exercise complete quality control and are finicky about their cacao content, which is why people like them," Shiho mama-san says. "If a woman gives you Jean-Paul Hevin's, you know she's sending you a message that she thinks you're important."

  Shiho mama-san says that the effort that goes in to picking chocolates is a lot more important than price when it comes to determining whether they are heartfelt or simply handovers.

  "They don't need to be expensive," Shiho mama-san says. "But there's a high likelihood that a woman who is prepared to find rare or different chocolates is also putting feeling into the gift."

  That explains why the mama-san has little regard for pricey but easily obtainable brands such as Queen Alice, Maxims de Paris and Godiva.

  In fact, when Shiho mama-san sends her chocolates, she makes sure they're double-wrapped.

  "If you're excited to receive chocolate, it's almost always going to be giri-choco. It's when you receive chocolate as though you had been expecting to get it no matter how much of a surprise it may be to others that you're getting it," she says.

  Shiho mama-san goes on: "If you get famous brand chocolates, it means nothing if they've been sold cheap at convenience stores or duty free outlets. In those cases, it's all still giri-choco. There are some brands that are just a little bit too famous." (By Ryann Connell)

  
  

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