Skip to content


Weekly Bulletin for Saturday 7th February, 2015


There is no JAFWA screening this week.
JAFWA ja nai desu yo. None, nada, nilch.

But despair not for JAFWA returns on Saturday 14th February, when it shall be St Valentine’s Day and we present a little, delightful screening with beloved Studio Ghibli fare.
Stay strong. The good stuff is coming.

From Wikipedia:

The custom that only women give chocolates to men may have originated from the translation error of a chocolate-company executive during the initial campaigns. In particular, office ladies give chocolate to their co-workers. Unlike western countries, gifts such as greeting cards, candies, flowers, or dinner dates are uncommon, and most of the activity about the gifts is about giving the right amount of chocolate to each person. Japanese chocolate companies make half their annual sales during this time of the year.

Many women feel obliged to give chocolates to all male co-workers, except when the day falls on a Sunday, a holiday. This is known as giri-choko, from giri (“obligation”) and choko, (“chocolate”), with unpopular co-workers receiving only “ultra-obligatory” chou-giri choko cheap chocolate. This contrasts with honmei-choko (favorite chocolate), chocolate given to a loved one. Friends, especially girls, may exchange chocolate referred to as tomo-choko; from tomo meaning “friend”.

In the 1980s the Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association launched a successful campaign to make March 14 a “reply day”, where men are expected to return the favour to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine’s Day, calling it White Day for the color of the chocolates being offered. A previous failed attempt to popularize this celebration had been done by a marshmallow manufacturer who wanted men to return marshmallows to women.

Men are expected to return gifts that are at least two or three times more valuable than the gifts received in Valentine’s Day. Not returning the gift is perceived as the man placing himself in a position of superiority, even if excuses are given. Returning a present of equal value is considered as a way to say that the relationship is being cut. Originally only chocolate was given, but now the gifts of jewelry, accessories, clothing and lingerie are usual. According to the official website of White Day, the color white was chosen because it’s the color of purity, evoking “pure, sweet teen love”, and because it’s also the color of sugar. The initial name was “Ai ni Kotaeru White Day” (Answer Love on White Day).

In Japan, the romantic “date night” associated to Valentine’s Day is celebrated on Christmas Eve.

Dates of Interest

  • Weekend 21&22 February – 10.00PM to 6:00PM comeone, come all to ANI-Games (fundraiser for next year’s WaiCon). At HBF Arena in Joondalup, see wai-con.org.
  • Saturday March 7thJapan Festival will be held at Forrest Place from 1:00-8:00pm.
  • Saturday March 14th – Evolve Pop Culture Fair 2015.Cannington Exhibition Centre & Showgrounds Cnr Albany Highway & Station Street, Cannington. A new convention celebrating comics, cosplayers, gaming, anime and all things in between.
    Tickets are $10, and children under 12 get in FREE.
    Collectables and comic booths, gaming, Gundam building booths and a cosplay competition are a small sample of some of the great things to check out.Don’t miss JAFWA
  • Saturday March 28th – JAFWA event afternoon. Come make your own entertainment between 12:30PM and 4:30PM. So soon after January.

Posted in Screenings.

0 Responses

Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.