White Day is a festival that was created by a concentrated marketing effort in Japan. White Day is celebrated in Japan and Korea on March 14, one month after Valentine's Day. On Valentine's Day, women give gifts to men; on White Day, men who received chocolate on Valentine's Day return the favor and give gifts to women.
This holiday is starting to gain popularity in Hong Kong, where Japanese influence is strong. Valentines in Japan, particularly among students is somewhat different than the west. Valentines day is mainly for the girls to present chocolates （either store-bought or handmade） to the boy of their choice. There also exists the “Giri-Choco” , which translates to “Obligatory Chocolate” that a girl will give to those close to her but has no romantic interest in. When white day rolls around, it is the boy's role to return the gift in what is called “Sanbai-gaeshi” （3倍返し） or “Triple return” as the gift the boy gives is supposed to be three times the value of the initial gift from the girl.
There are many theories about the origins of White Day, but according to one, the holiday began in 1965, when a marshmallow maker started marketing to men that they should pay back the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts with marshmallows. Originally it was called Marshmallow Day, and later it was changed to White Day.
Soon, the chocolate companies started realizing that they could capitalize as well on this day, and began marketing white chocolate. Now, Japanese men give both white and non-white chocolate, as well as other edible and non-edible gifts, such as jewellery or objects of sentimental value, to the women who gave them chocolate on Valentine's Day a month prior.
In South Korea, candies are the usual present.
So, those countries who celebrate Feb 14th like any other western countries have nothing to celebrate about. I'm so happy… I'm mean… Anyway, it's an interesting knowledge on how the Japanese celebrated Valentine's Day.
“白人节”最早起源于三世纪时的罗马。罗马皇帝在2月14日救了一对因为原本因违反恋爱结婚禁令而要被处死的恋人，罗马皇帝为了纪念这一天而设立了情人节。而在一个月后的3月14日，这对获救的恋人宣誓恋情将至死不渝，为纪念这一天，于是另订为白人节。
另一说法起源于日本的民间传说：2月14日“ValentineDay”原本是女孩子对男孩子诉诸情意的日子，由女孩子送情人节巧克力给男孩子。但是渐渐发展到最后，已经不分彼此，现在的情人节由谁主动送礼物已经不重要了。在日本，如果一方在二月十四日当天收到异性送的情人礼物表达爱意，而且对对方也有同样的好感或情意时，就会在三月十四日回送对方一份情人礼物，表示今年彼此已经心心相印了。所以他们就把三月十四日这一天，订为“白人节”。
