Valentine’s Day is a special holiday that is dedicated to celebrating love. 

Exchanging gifts and going out to romantic dinners are common practices in the U.S., with men usually being the gift-givers. However, there are many other ways Valentine’s Day is celebrated around the world. 

Valentine’s Day is a big deal in Japan, and how they celebrate it can be surprising from the U.S. perspective. Contrary to the U.S., Valentine’s Day in Japan mainly consists of women giving gifts to men. Furthermore, women usually give chocolates and candy, opposed to flowers, jewelry, and other common gifts. 

“All the big companies that make chocolates would promote their products very aggressively before the holiday, creating the atmosphere to attract everyone to buy them,” said Ms. Kitayama, the Japanese teacher at Skyline. 

Girls usually give chocolates to the boy that they like, as well as others they have no romantic interest in. This creates three different types of chocolates, “giri choco”, “tomo choco”, and “honmei choco”.

“Giri” means obligation, so giri choco refers to chocolates you “have to” give people. These chocolates are usually not as expensive and given to people such as bosses, coworkers, and male friends. 

“Giri choco is given to show your appreciation, or 感謝 (kansha)” said Kitayama. 

Rising in popularity, tomo choco (“tomo” means friends) refers to chocolates given to female friends (as a female). 

“Tomo choco is becoming more popular than before since girls want to eat chocolates too,” said Kitayama. 

Last but definitely not least, honmei choco are chocolates given to the one you want to express or confess your love to. These chocolates tend to be more expensive and can be homemade, or 手作り (tezukuri). Homemade gifts can also include other desserts, such as decorated cakes and cookies. 

Similar to the U.S., both boys and girls would get nervous on Valentine’s Day. Girls confess their love to boys that they like, and boys hope to receive chocolates from someone as well. The number of chocolates a boy gets can be representative of how popular they are, making the day a ‘nerve-wracking popularity game’. 

“From the view of men…they would worry about how many chocolates they would get, since if you don’t get any that would mean you aren’t popular,” said Kitayama. 

Contrary to the U.S., Japan and other asian countries have a counterpart to Valentine’s Day, called White Day, or ホワイトデー. On March 14th, exactly a month after Valentine’s Day, people give reciprocal gifts to those who gave them gifts on Valentine’s Day. Common gifts include White Chocolate, marshmallows, and other “white” accessories such as jewelry and bags.

Whether it be men gifting women or the other way around, Valentine’s Day is a day to show appreciation and spend time with loved ones. Even if you are not in a relationship or are recovering from one, we hope everyone can feel and share some love this season!