Valentines Day in Japan is quite an interesting holiday. Many things are done differently here. The biggest being that it is a GIRLS giving to BOYS only holiday. That’s right, the boys/men just sit back and relax while the women are going crazy at stores buying gifts. *This is practically typical in daily Japanese life.* But don’t worry, there is indeed a day for BOYS to give to GIRLS, it’s on March 14 called White Day. Japan has quite the obsession with these two colors, including during Xmas/New Years time with two teams on the popular TV singing contest show.
Anyways, for the Valentines it is tradition that Girls give the Boys chocolate. They can make it, with the large array of kits and all kinds of cooking accessories one could think of. Or just go to any store and they will have a huge selection of boxed chocolates. As for personal cards, I didn’t really see too many, but I’m sure they do it.
On WHITE Day it is custom for the Boys to give cookies and other pastry delights to the Girls. Quite different from being raised in a culture where we stereotype women as loving chocolate more than anything.
As for dates and things, I didn’t really find out to much about this, but when I did mention to my Jr. High that we go on group dates to a nice dinner, bowling, movie, etc. they seemed surprised that there was more than just chocolate.
I also showed my classes photos about Valentines boxes and how all the kids bring a small card and treat for everyone. They were quite jealous, you must remember that it is forbidden for them to bring any sort of snack, let alone treats, to school.
Samantha and I decided to finally explore some unique Japanese culture, by going to our first Love Hotel. We see them anywhere and everywhere all the time. We have always been told that some are extremely low class, while others are extremely nice and luxurious. Many of our friends knew we have a “nerdy/geeky” personality and recommend we go to the supposed Jurassic Park Hotel. We didn’t really believe that such thing could exist, especially as a place for couples to “romantically get away”. Sure enough a 2 hour drive later we found it in Beppu (a city way famous for its natural hot springs). These hotels are very secretive for the customer not to ever have any contact with anyone. The parking lots have license plate concealers, outsides to doors and hallways have yellow flashing lights to warn you that someone else is walking around, and to pay your bill or ordering anything is all done through machines and secret door slots (similar to banking drive thru back home).
The price we paid was only $120, and this included giant tub, huge bed, TV with millions of channels, a variety of complimentary things, and of course the themed dinosaur room with a button to activate dinosaur roars, flashing lights, and lightning. This beats any miserable business hotel that we’ve stayed at for the same price.
We hope to find more uniquely themed Love Hotels to share with you. We hear many include karaoke machines, game systems, and various other entertainment things; because not just couples go to these but groups will go as “girls/boys night” and have a party.