Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is celebrated both in America and in Japan, but there are many differences in how each country celebrates each February 14th.

In America guys usually buy chocolate and/or cards for girls in their class or at their jobs, if he has a girlfriend or a wife, he will usually take them out to dinner. If he has both, he could find himself in a lot of trouble. Girls also buy chocolate and cards for boys, but let's be honest here; Valentine's Day is all about romancing the ladies in the US.

It is completely different in Japan. Here the girls buy the chocolate and the guys don't buy anything! That's right in Japan Valentine's Day is all about the ladies showing how much they appreciate their men! There are two types of chocolate that a lady can buy, giri-choco (obligatory chocolate) that she may give to her boss, male co-workers or male classmates. Giri-choco are usually small boxes of chocolate that you give to a male friend as a thank you for favors they have done for you in the past or it can be for favors that you may ask of them in the future.

In Japan girls are usually shy and find it hard to express their true feelings so that makes Valentine's Day a perfect day to confess her feelings to that special someone with honmei-choco (true love chocolate) which come in big, fancy boxes. Honmei-choco is also given to present boyfriends and husbands. Valentine's Day cards are not popular in Japan and not given, only chocolate. It is also not customary to say, "Happy Valentine's Day" to anyone.

But don't fret, ladies, just because you don't get any chocolates from guys on Valentine's Day doesn't mean that you aren't getting anything. Many guys "pay" for their giri-choco exactly one month later, on March 14th which is called White Day. On White Day guys who were given chocolate, either giri or honmei, must buy a gift for the girl in return. It could be a very expensive day for popular guys at school or work depending on how many boxes of chocolate they received; not only that but those ladies expect sanbai gaeshi (triple the return) meaning that they expect a gift that is equal to two or three times the cost of theirs.

Guys just can't catch a break...