Japanese Valentine’s Day

Sunset from the top of the Mori Tower.

I’ve always been rather cynical about Valentine’s Day.  In Australia, I saw 14 February as a phoney holiday created by retailers to fill the void between Christmas seasons.  (Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are much the same, if you ask me.)  If I traced the history of Valentine’s Day back, I’m sure I would discover that it was created by a small group of jewellers, florists and chocolatiers who were anxious one year to keep the liquidator from the door … and if I’m wrong, I’ll amend the Wikipedia article to say it was that way!

Valentine’s Day in Japan, however, is a decidedly less commercial affair.  It works as follows.  On February 14, girls are supposed to give a chocolate to any boy they like.  If the girl is particularly diligent she will make the chocolate herself.  ‘Like’ does not have to mean love in a grand Biblical sense.  Fond of or grateful towards is fine.  Then, on 14 March, which is known as ‘White Day’ (for reasons unknown), a boy must give a chocolate to any girl who gave him a chocolate on 14 February.  Hence, it’s all fair and no-one has to spend a lot of money.

On 13 February, I was thinking about how many chocolates I might receive and how I would react to receiving a certain number of chocolates.  How many chocolates would make me happy?  How many would make me feel under-appreciated?  This is what I concluded.

Zero Chocolates:  Distraught and inconsolable.

1-2 Chocolates:  Disappointed.

3-4 Chocolates:  Happy.

5+ Chocolates:  Very happy.

So what happened on 14 February?  Well, here is a rather smug photo of my inbox on Valentine’s Day. 

This translates as "13 chocolates.  Wow!"

                   

13 chocolates in total.  Not bad for my first Japanese Valentine’s Day, if I may say so myself!

Take care and thank you for reading.

Our Man in Japan.