Over 80% of women in Japan don't want to give obligatory chocolate to their work colleagues on Valentine's Day, according to a recent survey.
The widespread practice of giri choko obligatory chocolates in the country seems to be disappearing due to the coronaviruses epidemic and changes in society. In January, In a survey conducted by Intage Inc., 2,633 men and women aged 15 to 79 were conducted. According to the results, only 8.2% of the 1,325 women who responded said they will give giri choco. When those currently employed were asked what they thought of the obligatory chocolates at their workplace, 82.8% of women said they did not want to give them to their colleagues. By age group, from 20 s to 70 s the percentage don't want to give was 75.4% in the lowest age group, those in their 20 s, while the percentage was around 80 to 90% for the other age groups.
The coronaviruses have led people to rethink how they relate to others, as they have less opportunities to come to the office in the first place, and it is believed that the coronaviruses have led people to stop giving giri choko, according to Hiromasa Tanaka, director of the company's consumer research center. The majority of male respondents, or 61.4%, said they were not happy to receive giri choko, with those in their 40 s accounting for the highest percentage, at over 70%.
However, the trend changed for men in their 20s, with the majority of respondents saying they were glad to receive them. The most common reasons were to get to know people at work better, to enjoy it as an event and to eat chocolate and sweets that I wouldn't normally buy myself.