This Sunday is Valentine’s Day! I was surprised to find out that Valentine’s Day is celebrated differently in Japan compared to my home of New Zealand.
I found it surprising that in Japan the girls go to a lot of effort to make gifts for Valentines Day, some people even hand-make chocolates which I thought was amazing! Before coming to Japan I had never heard of “White Day” which is on March 14th, where boys may return the favour and give gifts to the girls they got gifts from. In western countries it is the opposite! Not only does White Day not exist, but on Valentine's Day it is the boys who give gifts to the girls! Since it is usually the boys who are giving the gifts, I had never heard of anyone hand-making chocolates or gifts for Valentines Day before.
In western countries Valentines is mainly a day just for couples but recently there has been a trend called “Galentines Day” (girl+valentines=galentines) this is where a group of girls who are friends will celebrate Valentine’s Day together, eating sweets and watching romantic movies together!