If you have a Japanese girl friend, you'd better remember March 14 to get a brownie point. March 14 is called White Day in Japan. It is the answer day for Valentine's Day. Different from the custom in other countries, in Japan only girls and women give chocolates to boys and men on Valentine's Day on Feb. 14. In return boys and men will give something sweet such as candy, marshmallow, white chocolate, or cookie to girls and women on March 14.
This event started in 1980 by the promotion of Zenkoku amegashi kogyo kyodo kumiai(全国飴菓子工業協同組合), National Confectionery Industry Association. It seems the main ingredient of sweets is sugar which is white, therefore it was named as "White Day."
On March 14, 1873 the Meiji Government declared to admit the international marriage for the first time in Japanese history. Therefore they say today is also Day of International Marriage (国際結婚の日：kokusai kekkon no hi). According to the statistics of 2007, the international marriage rate in Japan is 5.6 % (=40,272/719,822) of total marriage numbers which was 0.9 % (=7,261/774,702) in 1980.
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