双语阅读：日本女性抵制情人节送礼传统

Japanese women are pushing back against a tradition that dictates they must give chocolates to male colleagues on Valentine’s Day, with growing anger at the practice of “forced giving”.

日本女性开始抵制每年2月14日必须给男同事送巧克力这一传统，因为她们对这种“强制送礼”习俗越来越不满。

Until recently, women in the workplace were expected to buy chocolates for their male workmates as part of a tradition called giri choco – literally, obligation chocolates.

一直以来，日本职场女性要为男同事购买“义理巧克力”，这已经成为日本的一项情人节传统。

Men are supposed to reciprocate on March 14 on White Day – an event dreamed up by chocolate makers in the early 80s to boost sales.

收到巧克力的职场男性则要在3月14日白色情人节回赠礼物。这是上世纪80年代初巧克力制造商为了增加销量而想出的活动。

But there is growing evidence that giri choco is falling out of favor.

但越来越多的证据显示，“义理巧克力”已经变得不受欢迎。

For a growing number of people, the pressure to avoid causing offence by spending thousands of yen on chocolates for coworkers is becoming intolerable. Some companies are now banning the practice, which is seen by many workers as a form of abuse of power and harassment.

为了避免冒犯同事而花数千日元购买巧克力相赠，让越来越多人无法容忍。一些公司如今已经禁止了这一行为，因为许多员工将其视为滥用权力和骚扰。

A survey found that more than 60% of women will instead buy chocolates as a personal treat on February?14. More than 56% said they would give chocolates to family members, while 36% would make the same gesture towards partners or the objects of a crush.

东京一家百货商店的调查发现，超过60%的女性将在2月14日这天购买巧克力犒劳自己，超56%的女性表示将把巧克力送给家人，36%的女性表示将送给伴侣或意中人。

Keeping on the right side of colleagues, however, was furthest from their thoughts, with just 35% saying they planned to hand out chocolate treats to men at their workplace, according to the poll by a Tokyo department store.

调查显示，和同事搞好关系是日本女性最不关心的，只有35%的女性表示她们打算送男同事巧克力。

"Before the ban, we had to worry about things like how much is appropriate to spend on each chocolate and where we draw the line in who we give the chocolates to, so it’s good that we no longer have this culture of forced giving,” one of the surveyed office workers said, according to the Japan Today website.

据今日日本网报道，受访的一名办公室职员说：“公司禁止赠送‘义理巧克力’之前，我们要操心的事情有：买多少钱的巧克力合适，送哪些人、不送哪些人？所以，现在扫除了这一强制送礼的文化，真是太好了。”

SoraNews24, meanwhile, reported on the recent phenomenon of gyaku choco – reverse chocolate – in which men give chocolates to spouses, girlfriends or prospective lovers.

与此同时，日本新闻网站SoraNews24报道了“反向巧克力”的新趋势——男性给配偶、女友或意中人赠送巧克力。

Giving chocolate as Valentine’s Day gifts took off commercially in Japan in the mid-1950s, growing into a multimillion-dollar market that provides some manufacturers with a sizeable chunk of their annual sales in just a few days.

在情人节赠送巧克力的商业活动始于上世纪50年代中期，后来发展为数百万美元的市场规模，一些巧克力制造商短短几天的销售额就达到了年销售总额的很大一部分。

But the backlash against giri choco has prompted some confectioners to revamp their marketing campaigns.

不过，民众对“义理巧克力”的抵制促使一些巧克力制造商调整了营销策略。

In the run-up to Valentine’s Day last year, the Belgian chocolatier Godiva caused a stir when it ran a full-page newspaper ad urging businesses to encourage female employees not to hand out giri choco if they felt they were doing so under duress.

去年情人节前夕，比利时巧克力制造商歌帝梵在报纸上登整版广告，敦促企业鼓励女员工，如果觉得受强迫就不要送“义理巧克力”，引发民意沸腾。

"Valentine’s Day is a day when people convey their true feelings, not coordinate relationships at work,” the ad said.

广告上说：“情人节是人们表达真情实感的节日，不是协调职场关系的日子。”

While individual consumers weigh up their gift-giving options, Japan’s collective Valentine’s chocolate obsession is gathering pace as the day approaches.

虽然个体消费者还在犹豫要买什么情人节礼物，但日本民众对巧克力的热情却已然随着情人节的临近而升温。

Japan Airlines will hand out chocolates to passengers – male and female – on all of its domestic and international flight on February?14, while a hot spring resort near Tokyo has unveiled a bath filled with steaming “chocolate water”.

日本航空将在2月14日给国内和国际航班的所有旅客都分发巧克力，无论男女。东京附近的一处温泉度假村推出了“巧克力蒸汽浴”。

But the prize for the most improbable Valentine’s gimmick must go to a chain of sushi restaurants whose diners will be offered slivers of raw yellowtail mixed with, yes, chocolate.

不过，最不可思议的情人节大招来自一家寿司连锁餐厅，这家餐厅为顾客提供生鲱鱼片配巧克力！