Love is in the air ...

Valentine’s Day. As I view it, a commercialized holiday that really holds no significance. Why have only one day a year to declare your love and adoration to someone? If you are in a relationship, shouldn’t you be doing this every moment possible?

Like Halloween, Japan wastes no expense in commercializing this holiday. Every shop has chocolates or flowers to sell. Even the 100 yen stores mass-sell cake decorating accessories. The idea of Valentine’s Day, however, is a little different in Japan.

While in Western cultures Valentine’s Day is about the man showering his partner with gifts to show his affection and love, in Japan it is the female who showers the man with gifts. If a female really admires a boy, then she will hand-make her chocolates or sweets to give to him. I suppose this is to show a ‘personal touch’ or maybe the effort is a symbol of how much she adores him?

Boys generally have until March 14th, known as ‘White Day’ in Japan, to return the ‘favour’, and usually three-fold! If a boy receives a gift on Valentine’s Day, he will be expected to give a gift back to the girl that is three times the value he received (but that’s if he actually has an interest in the girl!). So, yet again, I will expect come March 14th, Japan’s stores will be stocked with chocolates and flowers for men to buy. It is yet another heavily commercialized day that really has no emotional meaning.

However, this year businesses were rather anxious about Valentine’s Day sales. Of course, many of you know, Valentine’s Day is a Saturday this year. For many Japanese women, they often buy ‘obligatory’ chocolates for co-workers, to show their appreciation. Many chocolate companies in Japan are said to make half their annual sales during this time of year! Yet, as Valentine’s Day is a Saturday, many Japanese women would not feel it necessary to purchase such ‘obligatory’ chocolates if they re not working! Again, consumerism at it’s best!

After doing some research (Wikipedia is always reliable), it is said that this tradition of Valentine’s and White Day were actually created through a translation mistake. The custom of women giving men chocolates is said to have originated from one of the early advertisements of a chocolate company during their Valentine’s Day campaign. It is funny to think that one simple translation error has resulted in a commercialized tradition in Japan!

And so, as I sit here and write how much I despise Valentine’s Day because it is a stupid commercialized holiday, the truth deep down behind my despise, is the loneliness this day makes you feel. It doesn’t matter if you have a group of friends around you, there will always be a part of you who sits jealously in the corner as you watch all the smitten couples walk past or sit at tables of restaurants. While I often try to convince myself that this whole romantic Valentine’s Day and being smitten is sickly, it can make you sick with envy too.

Nevertheless, I am about to enjoy a lovely evening with some wonderful friends, where we will simply have dinner and a coffee. Now, that is how you spend Valentine’s Day – away from that corner of jealousy!

I also wanted to share this image with you all.

This is one of the reasons I wanted to stay another year in Japan. Last week I had another English camp with one of Okayama’s high schools. These letters were sent to me this week from my camp’s group members. They were a group of five lovely girls, each of them eager to learn and speak English. I was simply blown away by their English levels! All spoke so clearly and took risks to try and communicate with me and other ALTs during the camp. It was when I read these letters that I realized what kind of impact us ALTs had on these students. I am so glad to hear that my encouragement meant something to this group of girls, and I truly hope they continue to pursue their goals in English.

It is moments like these that remind me why I am here in Japan and why I am staying here for another 12 months!