Happy Valentines Day!
Valentine’s Day has officially conquered Japan according to a Time Magazine article. The first Valentine’s Day sale in Japan took place in 1958. Today, according to the Chocolate and Cocoa Association of Japan, $400 million was spent in chocolate purchases in the crucial days leading up to the holiday of love.
Japan has a different take on the holiday, though. Japanese women are the ones who give the gifts on February 14, sometimes quite elaborate, to the significant men in their lives.
Men don’t get a free ride on the money train of love. In the late 1970’s the big wigs at several confectionary companies got together to come up with a way to get a piece of the chocolate pie. Their gimmick was to come up with “White Day” on March 14, that special time of Hallmark moment when men are obligated to reciprocate for their Valentine’s gifts by lavishing candies and cookies, jewelry, handbags and other goodies on the special ladies in their lives.
To read more about this in Time magazine’s online entry for today, visit: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1589631,00.html
posted by Woman-Centric Matters @ 9:24 AM
3 Comments:
I think it is a great idea that there is more than one day of the year that the Japanese people give for loving and accepting each other. Traditional japense culture is not very emotionally expressive, so this is a great way to shower your sweetheart twice in one year!
I think Japanese women have enough to worry about without having to add the right gifts for all of their male counterparts. What they forgot to mention is that the Japanese women have to buy gifts for their co-workers, friends, spouses, grandfathers, fathers and spend about $56 for the holiday. I think that is alot of work just to get a handbag one month later!
I hope some of those guys give their sweethearts sneakers for all of the running around they did on the 14!
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