March 15, 2011

White Day/ホワイトデー

One day before Valentine's Day, my daughter made those cookies (biscuits in British English) with the help of her mother. She gave them to friends (both boys and girls), a cousin, uncles, aunts, her brother, her mother, and of course, me.
バレンタインの前の日に、娘は母親の助けを借りて、こんなクッキー(イギリス英語ではビスケット)を作りました。友達(男の子、女の子)、いとこ、おじさん、おばさん、お兄ちゃん、母親、そしてもちろん私にもくれました。

The three kanji (Chinese characters) are "tomo" (friend) and "naka", as in "nakama" (buddy, fellow).
3つの漢字は「友」と「仲間」の「仲」です。




This bag was for me!
この袋は私のです!

In Japan, Valentine's Day started around 1970s as a special day when a female could tell ("confess") a male that she loved him by giving him chocolate, partly due to the commercialism of some confectionery manufacturers. It has since then developed in a very Japanese way. Around 1980s, some females started to give what is called "giri choco" to male coworkers and friends just out of courtesy. And, now, there are other types of choco, "tomo choco" (chocolate given from female to female as a sign of friendship), "jibun choco" (chocolate given to herself), and "gyaku choco" (chocolate given from male to female).
The chocolate given by a female to a male that she really loves is called "honmei choco".
日本では、バレンタインデーは、一部の菓子メーカーの商業主義のせいもあり、女性が、愛する男性にチョコを贈ることで、愛していることを告げる(「告白する」)特別な日として1970年代頃に始まりました。その後、とても日本風に発展して行きました。1980年代頃に、いわゆる「義理チョコ」を男性の同僚や友人に義理でチョコをあげる女性が出てきました。現在では、他のタイプのチョコもあります。「友チョコ」(女性から女性へ友情の印としてあげるチョコ)、「自分チョコ」(自分自身にあげるチョコ)、「逆チョコ」(男性が女性にあげるチョコ)。
女性が本当に愛する男性に贈るチョコは「本命チョコ」と呼ばれます。

I don't have enough time to write about White Day, so here is a link to White Day.
ホワイトデーについて書く時間がないので、ホワイトデーのリンクを張ります。

Here are photos of all the gifts my daughter got for White Day.
娘がホワイトデーでもらった贈り物の写真です。

A bouquet of flowers:
花束:



Assorted chocolates:
チョコの詰め合わせ:

Rusk:
ラスク:

Purin (Japanese custard pudding):
プリン:

It's made from "yodo ran" (eggs rich in iodine), and the caramel sauce is made from brown sugar from Okinawa.
「ヨード卵」でできていて、カラメルソースは沖縄産の黒糖からできています。

Hand-made cake (cheesecake?)
手作りケーキ(チーズケーキ?)

Assorted chocolates:
チョコの詰め合わせ:


"Kinoko no Yama" and "Takenoko no Sato" (top two) from Meiji, "Harvest" biscuits (cookies in the U.S.) from Tohato, and others:
明治の「きのこの山」と「たけのこの里」(上の二つ)、東ハトの「ハーベスト」など:


Cookie from Vietnam!
ベトナム産クッキー!
Sakura Baumkuchen (with cherry blossoms in it)!
(桜の花の入った)さくらバームクーヘン!

8 comments:

RinaM said...

Very cute! For your wife and daughter?

Unknown said...

Hello,

Ive been enjoying reading your blog for some time now. It's always very interesting and informative. Just hoping that everything is O.K. for you and your family.

Bret

Hiroyuki said...

RinaM: The cookies in the former photos were made by my daughter with the help of her mother for Valentine's Day, and the sweets in the latter photos were those given to her by boys in return on and around "White Day" (March 14).
The details coming up in a day or two.

Hiroyuki said...

Bret: Thanks!!

Kiki said...

Funny, the cookie from the last photo named Lotus is that kind of cookie you will recieve for free with every cup of coffee in bistros / coffeeshops in my town. The boy is not a close friend of your daughter I suppose :-)

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki: The bistros and coffeeshops in your town are very generous!!
I searched for information about the buscuit, and found it is made in Belgium, and it contains no eggs or milk (dairy products).

Nerd Mom said...

I'm envious of your daughter's cookie decorating skills. Her cookies look lovely. She got lovely gifts from her friends.

Hiroyuki said...

Cheryl: Decorating skills?? Thanks for your complient. I will tell my daughter about your comment. I'm sure that will make her happy!

We didn't expect to get so many gifts from relatives and friends after the unprecedented earthquake that took place only a few days before.