Japan Loves Chocolate, And I Love Japan: The Ryubo Chocolate Garden

The last “chapter” of our little Valentine’s Day love story somehow turned into two chapters: The One With Blurred Lines & The One Where I Started Dating My Best Friend… but I promised Dane that he could proof read before I published anything, and since we are currently working with a 15 hour time difference, it’s been hard to coordinate!

Instead, I’m sticking with the Valentine theme with and posting pretty pictures of even prettier chocolates.

After I dropped the hubby off at the airport in Naha last week, I needed a distraction. My friend Shannon came to the rescue with a perfect plan: The Ryubo Chocolate Garden. Really, what could be better for a girl whose husband has gone away the week before Valentine’s Day than going to a chocolate expo where she can buy boxed chocolate to binge on for the entire holiday week??

Japan loves Valentine’s Day, but even more than that- Japan loves chocolate for Valentine’s Day… And Shannon knows me well enough to know that Japan and I have that much in common. Since I was already in Naha, we met at Ryubo department store for afternoon tea before we ventured up to the 6th floor Exhibition Hall for the Ryubo Chocolate Garden Fair.

We sampled everything we were offered: chili chocolate, hibiscus chocolate, cinnamon chocolate, all the chocolate! But the exhibit is as much a treat for your eyes as it is for your taste buds. Counter after counter I was amazed by the beauty of the displays and the craftsmanship of each piece of chocolate. You can buy themed boxes of chocolate for everything under the sun. I take that back… you could buy the sun too… or the whole solar system for that matter!

I think my personal favorite might have been the: “Respect is What I Have For You” Collection. Nothing says romance like respect. I ended up bringing home a box of chocolate mochi, and it may or may not have lasted the whole week. I’ll let you wonder!

For now, enjoy some eye candy candy from the Ryubo Chocolate Garden.

Google coordinates for Ryubo Mall in Okinawa : 26.2085047, 127.6748096