Love, Chocolate and My First Crush

And how he crushed me.

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Previously published on 14th of March 2024

Today is a special day. It’s White Day (ホワイトデー) celebrated one month after Valentine’s Day in Japan. This tradition emerged in 1978 as the ‘reciprocate day’ to Valentine’s Day.

On Valentine’s Day in Japan, girls traditionally give chocolate to boys. There are two main types: honmei-choco, which is chocolate given to someone you have a crush on, and giri-choco, which is chocolate given as a courtesy to friends, classmates, or co-workers.

These chocolates serve as expressions of love, courtesy, or social obligation. They’re exchanged not only in romantic settings but also in workplaces and schools, even among students.

Valentine’s Day could feel a bit one-sided especially back in my school day, it wasn’t necessarily the highlight for everyone.

Thank goodness that we don’t have that tradition here because I don’t live in Japan.

For one thing, my pocket money was limited, and sometimes I’d even skip a snack during recess to save up for something else I really wanted. This meant participating in gift-giving wasn’t always an option.

_{出典: ホワイトデー・ハートでつながるカップル｜印刷素材.net}

I also had a rather…interesting experience with a crush.

I was 11 years old, and he was a year older than me. I blurted out my feelings for this boy. Let’s just say his reaction was out of the ordinary.

He called me stupid and scolded me!

I was mortified. What was I thinking?

It wasn’t full-blown heartbreak, no tears or long nights of pining, but the sheer embarrassment of it all.

I did feel stupid and wished that the ground swallow me whole.

We each went to different high school afterwards. That was the end of that chapter.

I wonder if he’d throw back a love chocolate from me.

Creative Christians on Unsplash

I’m also not exactly the boy’s girl kind of girl. When I outgrew fighting with the boys during my elementary school days, I become like one of the boys. Like hang out with the boys kind of girl except that I wasn’t allowed on the football team.

The boys confided in me about everything, not necessarily because I was being helpful, but here I was, privy to all their secret crushes and boyish schemes.

It did get a little funny, though. Some of the girls would eye me suspiciously, maybe mistaking me for competition for the boys’ affection.

For all the wrong reason.

Little did they know, they were the actual objects of affection of those boys.

So, I would never get the same kind of attention like the rest of the girls because I was one of the boys.

Photo by Sara Cervera on Unsplash

Alright, back to the White Day story.

Valentine’s Day is over and maybe you scored a sweet treat or two (or ten, no judgment!). There’s a saying: “Sanbai gaeshi” ( 三倍返しtriple the return). Recipients often give gifts two to three times the value of the Valentine’s gift they received.

Today is your chance to show some appreciation, no love confession required! Just be polite. Gift exchanges can happen between romantic partners, friends, and coworkers.

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There I was, all riled up about the commercialism of Valentine’s Day, practically whining about it the whole time. Completely forgot about White Day’s sanbai gaeshi!

A quick dash to the konbini (convenience store) downstairs for a single bar of chocolate was all that I needed to do. I don’t even have to change out from my pyjamas!

Speaking of lessons learned, this reminds me of a story where this precocious 9-years-old meticulously calculating the potential return on her investment -two measly chocolate bars gifted to dear her dad and dear grandpa.

Turns out, neither of the recipients were even aware of the White Day tradition. There, her first business venture flopped.

Who really flopped harder here?

Me, the whiny and forgetful one, or the anime’s mini-mogul who miscalculated her market?

Next year maybe.

©Britt H.

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