February 7, 1990
Judging from the shop displays, Valentine's Day is even bigger than Christmas here. All the clerks in Tokiwa departmen store were wearing red sweatshirts with "Valentine" emblazoned across the front. And the chocolates! It's as if 30 Lammes Candy stores had set up shopkeeping in the basement. The price of chocolate was enough to send me into the fish department instead. This is sushi/sashimi season because raw fish keeeps better in the cold.
Valentine's Day is celebrated Sadie Hawkins style with the girls giving the boys chocolate, not the other way around. Apparently the girls are happy with the opportunity to drop the mantle of Japanese femininity and to be able to express the desires of their hearts. All those repressed desires are a potent money-making force for the candy manufacturers.
Of course, every situation in Japan is defined by obligatory gestures. And the candy manufactureres have not let the opportunity to profit slip by lightly. Women are expected to give candy to every male they know. So they give cheaper offerings to the guys they feel obiged not to offend. Then the guys can spend their time guessing whether they received giri choco (obligation chocolate) or a real expression of love.
February 14, 1990
What a wonderful day this has been! First, I bought giri-choco (obligation chocolate) for everyone in the office and surprised their socks off. It was a lot of fun sneaking chocolate on people's desk and having them wonder who it came from. "A-re?" (What's that?)
Then I received a Christmas package from my former office mates in Austin. (Regardless of the address on my mail, about 3/4s of it gets delivered to my office rather than my apartment. I assume that the post office can't read the romaji, and simply deliver all foreign packages to me...the only foreigner.) The box of Russell Stover's chocolates disappeared in a flash.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
February 14, 2002
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