Japanese Valentine

Honestly, I don't think it's all that much different from Valentine's Day in America. Other than that the actual day, itself is reserved for women, whereas White Day is for men, the giving of chocolates and flowers and other little gifts is just about the same. We both give to people we genuinely care about as well as to people we are only just acquainted with. Although, the fact that there's a specific word in Japanese just for obligatory chocolate is very amusing to me. Haha! Another difference, I suppose would be that for ほんめいチョコ, the Japanese put a lot more thought and care into it than we do here in America. I really like the idea of actually making the chocolate, yourself, to give to someone special rather than just buying something in a store with a little nicer wrapping than the ones we designate for ギリチョコ, like we tend to do in America. It feels more heartfelt. Hence, the name, I guess. :)

I do have to agree that Valentine's Day pretty much is the Hallmark Holiday. It's all mostly a marketing scheme created by the department stores and confectioneries. But, I also think it's at least partially well-intended. It's a day when most everyone can receive a little something from someone and, even if it's just ギリチョコ a present is always appreciated.

If I were to participate in Japanese Valentine's Day... I think I would be having tons of fun attempting to learn how to make ほんめいチョコ and ともチョコ for all my friends. It might be a bit of a disaster because I tend to fail utterly at cooking, but it generally sounds like a lot of fun.