Valentine's Day and White Day in Japan and other East Asian countries

The international day where we celebrate love is coming close! But how do they celebrate Valentine's Day in Japan and in Korea? What is so different about it? How will you show your feelings to a Japanese man or woman? I'm going to cover some of these traditions in my post today.

On the 14th of February it is Valentine's Day of course. In Japan  they have the tradition that on this special day women give presents to men. Most often they give chocolate. In common opinion it is the best if you give homemade chocolate to that special person in your life which the Japanese call 本命チョコhonmei-choco (chocolate of love). You can also use this if you would like to confess to someone. For your male friends and colleagues you can give store bought chocolate 義理チョコ giri choco (courtesy chocolate).  

In return men who understood the value of your precious chocolate can give something back on the 14th of March. This day is called White Dayホワイトデー.

White Day, Marshmallow Day?

White Day was celebrated in 1978 in Japan for the first time. It was started by the National Confectionery Industry Association with the thought in  mind there should be a ‘return day’ for Valentine’s day. In 1977 a confectionery company called Ishimuramanseido from Fukuoka marketed marshmallows on March 14, calling it ‘Marshmallow Day’ with the hope the men buy the marshmallows to give in return for their Valentine’s gifts. Soon after that other confectionery companies began marketing white chocolate.

Returning the favor

 According to a survey by Ageil Media Network in 2010, 66% of the women questioned answered that they would prefer to receive handmade sweets in return for their efforts on Valentine's Day. They said it shows men's diligence and that they understand women's feelings. Also 63% of the questioned men said they would try to make sweets by themselves for White Day. For the men who are proud of their sweets making skills, nowadays they even have a competition for it in Japan which is called; 'White Day Daisakusen; ike otoko eno michi'  (White Day Strategy; the way of cool men.) Other popular gifts are chocolate, sweets, cookies, white lingerie and marshmallows. There even is a unwritten rule which is called 三倍返 (sanbai gaeshi) and means ‘triple the return’. I think you can guess it means you can’t satisfy your special person with just a simple gift!

Other countries

Valentine’s Day and White Day is also celebrated this way in Korea, China and Taiwan! 

In Korea these kind of anniversaries are very important for couples. In Korea it's very likely to really show you are a couple. Many couples were matching outfits and have couple rings. They also have many special days which they need to remember. Ever celebrated  100-days dating day? Rose Day on May 14th or Kiss Day on June 14th? No? Me neither, but if you get a Korean girl or boyfriend you might will!

本命チョコをあげたことがある？

~ Mei mei

Japanese onomatopoeia オノマトペ and mimesis

Onomatopoeia, in Japanese called 'giongo 擬音語' is a word or a group of words that have their meaning indicated by the sounds they mimic. For example sound effects like 'bang'. Mimesis, in Japanese called 'gitaigo 擬態語' are state words like 'sparkle'. In Japanese onomatopoeia and mimesis is used a lot more than they are in western languages. It is so important and prevalant that they are separated in three categories; Giseigo擬声語, Giongo擬音語 and Gitaigo擬態語.

Giseigo擬声語;

 Are simply sounds that people and animals can make like ニャンニャン (nyan-nyan) the Japanese version of a cat's meow.

Giongo 擬音語; 

Sounds that can't be put under Giseigo. Like sounds of the nature. For example ポツポツ (potsu-potsu) the sound for rain drops.  Another example is どきどき the sound of a pounding heart. Most Giongo are written in katakana but as you can see with どきどき there are a lot of exceptions.

Gitaigo 擬態語;

 Are used to describe an action or an emotion and they don't necessarily have to make noises. Technically these are not called onomatopoeia but fall under mimesis, because they don't try to imitate the sound but mimic the actions. For example ぺちゃくちゃ (pechakucha) means chit-chat and おどおど(odo-odo) is to feel uneasy / insecure. Most gitaigo is written in hiragana but like with giongo there are a lot of exceptions.

~ Mei mei

Incorporating a foreign language into your daily life

The topic of this post is incorporating a new language into your daily life. When you don't have a friend, a colleague or someone else who speaks the language of your interest, maintaining a foreign language can be quite difficult. Below I have explained some simple and advanced techniques to take a your skills to another level.

The 'sticky notes' technique;
This is a perfect technique for those who live by themselves. You write words on a sticky notes in the language you are learning and paste them all around the house. For example you can make notes for doors like; bathroom, toilet and bedroom. But the possibilities do not stop there, they are endless. You can basically stick the notes onto everything, the more sticky notes you have in your house, obviously the more you learn. I do admit this can look a little weird to your friends and family but it's for good cause right?

Shopping;
There's a lot to learn with this simple daily task. You can make shopping lists in the language of your interest and you will learn not only many nouns but also counters!Try to name the items you see when you are outside. If you don't know the word, write it down in English and look it up later. This method is not too challenging but adds some fun in the study process (which can be quite boring sometimes ). When you get home you can apply the 'sticky notes technique' and label all your bought items. While labelling the items you can even write down expiry dates or  the country of origin (for fruits).

For the die-hards;
This is for the people who really want to take a language to the next level. Adjust your phone settings to your chosen foreign language. This will be really challenging because you will experience a lot of head scratching situations, but you can learn so many new words! Just put a shortcut somewhere on your device which links to Google Translate and don't forget to write down how to put the settings back to normal.

Find native people to talk with;
If you have access to the internet you have access to people. Finding study buddies or native speakers is easier than it might seem. If you don't know how to take the first step I recommend you to read my blogpost here. I explained two easy ways to find native speakers and study buddies in that post.


Good luck!

~Mei mei

I wish we had more Japanese snacks in Europe

Kawashima Yoshiko 川島 芳子 - The story of a Manchurian princess

After reading 'The private papers of Eastern Jewel' which is a novel based on the diary of Kawashima Yoshiko (川島 芳子 ) I got really interested in finding out some more information about this intriguing woman . I found so much interesting information that I decided to share it with you.

She was born in Beijing in 1907 and originally named Aisin Gioro Xianyu, with the courtesy name Dongzhen 'Eastern Jewel' (東珍). She also had a other Chinese name Jīn Bìhuī 金璧輝.
She was the 14th daughter to Shanqi, the 10th son of Prince Su 肅親王of the Manchu imperial family and one of his concubines. The prince gave Eastern Jewel away to Kawashima Naniwa, a Japanese military officer at the age of eight. He raised her as his own daughter and send her to school in Tokyo for an education that included Judo and fencing. He was also the one who changed her name to Kawashima Yoshiko (川島 芳子) .Shanqi Su died in 1921. His concubine then comitted the traditonal suicide.

In her teenage years she was raped by Kawashima's father and started an affair with Kawashima himself. When she was 20 she honoured her father's arrangement and married the Mongolian prince and leader of the Mongolian-Manchurian Independence Movement named Ghanzu'er Zhabu (Ganjurjab). It only lasted for four months until she fled to Shanghai. After and inbetween many lovers she met Tanaka Ryukichi (田中 隆吉) a general of the imperial army, from which she gained her contact with Major-General Doihara Kenji.  She then started to serve Doihara as a spy. Collecting information for the Japanese and using her Royal blood in her position, she was intstrumental in engineering a series of incidents which created oppurtunities for the Japanese army to attack China and to set up a series of puppet states. One of these incidents she played the major role in persuading the last Chinese emperor Pu Yi to become the ruler of Manchukuo (Manchuria) one of the Japanese puppet states.
Trough this all she continued her habit of having many lovers which were foreign, Asian, male or female. She even had an affair with Doihara.

In 1945 at the end of WWII. She gained much weight and was diagnosed with syphilis. She was betrayed, by one of her lovers and was arrested by the Chinese counter-intelligence officers.  Kawashima appeared in court as Jīn Bìhuī charged with treason and was handed out the death sentence in 1947. Her execution was carried out in the morning of the 25th of March 1948. She died as an executed war criminal of a shot in the back of her head.

Even though the offical execution photos were released, there were persistent rumors that she escaped her execution and the one who was punished on that morning was a different person.

Could Eastern Jewel, the eternal beauty escape and find happiness? Until know nobody knows the truth.

I hope you enjoyed a little history this time!
~ Mei mei