Today is Valentines Day.
Japan celebrates Valentines Day too…but not the same way as in America and other western countries.
Also, Japan has an “original” holiday one month later that is more similar to America’s Valentines Day.
Click here to read a post that I wrote three years ago that explains Valentines Day and White Day in Japan.
In addition to what I wrote in that post, Dominos Pizza in Japan offers a heart-shaped pizza for Valentines Day.
Today (March 14) is ホワイトディ (“White Day”) in Japan.
In Japan, Valentines Day is on February 14th like it is in the West…but, here, women give chocolate (often homemade) to men.
And then one month later, on March 14th, men repay the women with a present…it’s called “White Day”.
Men give women candy or some other gift on White Day in Japan…so, this day is actually more similar to Valentines Day in the West than Japanese Valentines Day is.
Click here to read a post that I wrote that explains a bit more about Valentines Day and White Day in Japan.
Today is Valentines Day.
In 西洋 (“western”) countries such as America, men give a gift such as chocolate or flowers to the woman he loves…and often he takes her to a restaurant for dinner.
In Japan, Valentine’s Day is celebrated quite differently.
In Japan, women give chocolate to men on Valentines Day.
And not only to the men they love. They will make home-made chocolate or cookies for their husband or boyfriend.
And then they will buy boxes of chocolate for their boss at work (provided their boss is male), male co-workers, brother-in-law, etc. (their father and brothers may get hand-made chocolate or store bought).
Most of the Valentines Day chocolates that women in Japan give is called 「義理チョコ」 (“Obligation chocolate“) because it’s given out of obligation.
「本命チョコ」 (“True love chocolate“) is the handmade (or more expensive store-bought) chocolate that the women give their husband or boyfriend.
And then, on March 14, exactly one month after Valentines Day, is the Japanese original holiday called “White Day“.
On White Day, men must give chocolate or cookies to every woman who gave them a Valentines Day gift in February.
Men don’t normally hand-make White Day chocolates, but just like Valentines…they give “Obligation chocolate” to the women who had given them one and a “True love” gift for their wife or girlfriend.
Click here to see my FAQ about Valentines Day in Japan.
On their website, the Japanese confectioner 「不二家」 (“Fujiya”) is offering free downloads of various “Valentines Day message cards” that you can print and write a message to someone special when you give them a Valentines Day present.
Click here to go to the “Fujiya Valentines Day Cards” page.
I don’t remember most of the lesser known American holidays, so correct me if I’m wrong.
But, as I remember, in America there are some spring customs but no legal holidays.
First, February 2 is “Groundhog Day” in America.
A groundhog is a type of マーモット…
A groundhog.
Not to be confused with 「モルモット」, which means “guinea pig” in Japanese.
A guinea pig.
In America, on Groundhog Day people watch a groundhog to see if he leaves his burrow or not.
If he does, that’s supposed to mean that spring will start soon…if he returns to his burrow after sticking his head out, that means the cold winter weather will continue longer.
At least that’s how I remember it. It’s an odd custom.
April 1st is called “April Fool’s Day“.
On this day in America, people play practical jokes on each other…if someone falls for one of these practical jokes, then he’s labeled a “fool” for the day–the “April Fool“.
Also Easter, I believe, is on the first Sunday of April.
This is a religious Christian holiday.
Many people in America, Canada (and maybe some European countries too) paint Easter eggs and “the Easter Bunny” gives baskets of chocolate to children.
School students get a week or so “Spring Break” holiday from school…but it’s not the end of the school year yet (as it is in Japan). Summer Break is the end of the U.S. school year.
In Japan spring is different.
Here, the school year ends in March and begins after spring in April.
Students in Japan who will be starting high school or college must take Entrance Exams. (My second daughter passed her Entrance Exam and will be starting high school next month).
At almost the same time as Groundhog Day in the U.S., Japan has Setsubun on February 2nd every year.
In March, Japan has Doll Festival on March 3rd, and White Day on March 14th (tomorrow). But those aren’t legal holidays (I mean, they’re not days off).
But around March 20th is 「春分の日」 (Spring Equinox) is a legal holiday. This year, Spring Equinox is Sunday, March 21st…so it’ll will be observed the next day—Monday, March 22nd will be a day off.
Many people visit their family grave on this day.
A big holiday season in Japan occurs in spring. It’s called “Golden Week“.
Golden Week is technically May 3rd – May 5th (「憲法記念日」 (Constitution Day), 「緑の日」 (Greenery Day), and 「子供の日」 (Children’s Day) respectively)…but often 「昭和の日」 (Showa Day), which is on April 29th, is included.
So, some people get Golden Week holiday from April 29th – May 5th.
And, of course, a very important springtime custom in Japan is 「花見」 (Cherry-Blossom Viewing).
As I mentioned in a previous post, Valentines Day is done differently in Japan than in the West…but on March 14th, Japan has a holiday called “White Day” which is closer to Western-style Valentines Day.
Click here to read my F.A.Q. about “White Day“.
From now until March 14 in Japan, the donut chain “Krispy Kreme” is selling special donuts for “White Day“.
The White Day donuts look like this:
Actually, I still have never tried a Krispy Kreme donut yet. Are they good?
Maybe I’ll get some of these for my wife and daughters on White Day…I’ll think about it.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I got Valentines chocolate from a few people, as is common in Japan…but the best ones were the chocolates that my daughters made me.
And also, the gift from my wife.
This year’s Valentine’s Day, my wife bought 「サッポロ ショコラブルワリー」 (“Sapporo Chocolat Brewery”) chocolate beer for me.
I love beer and I don’t have much of a sweet tooth…so this was perfect for me. It was a slightly dark beer with a hint of bitter chocolate.
A Canadian who’s living in Tokyo also wrote a post about this beer on is blog…click here to see his post.
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Also, Japan got it’s first two medals in the 2010 Olympics yesterday.
Both were in the Men’s 500 meter Speed Skating competition.
Keiichiro Nagashima won the silver and Joji Kato got bronze.
We’re watching the 2010 Winter Olympics live on TV right now.
It started this morning (Sunday) and it’s currently about 1PM here in Tokyo. So I guess the games are being played in the evening in Canada (Sunday, 1:00PM in Tokyo = Saturday, 8:00PM in Vancouver).
As of right now, Japan doesn’t have any medals yet.
Ten countries have at least one medal each so far.
2010 Olympic medal stats (as of 2010 Feb 14, 1:20PM, JST)
If you want to see an up-to-date listing of the medal statistics, check out the 2010 Olympics medals page.
But, I’m sure you’ve heard how the 2010 Olympics started in tragedy.
Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was a 21 year old athlete from the country of Georgia who was on his country’s luge team, died in a terrible accident before the beginning of the games’ opening ceremony.
He flew off the Olympic luge track at high speed and smashed into a metal pillar during a training run.
He was air-lifted to hospital unconscious but died at the hospital.
The Georgia team was going to pull-out of the 2010 Olympics because of this tragedy, but finally decided to continue.
They wore black armbands in remembrance of Nodar Kumaritashvili as they marched in the opening ceremony.
Nodar Kumaritashvili, R.I.P.
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On a different note, today is Valentine’s Day.
Click here to see the post I wrote that explains how this holiday is different in Japan compared to Western countries.
So, my youngest daughter made some homemade chocolate for me.
I took a couple pictures:
The box of chocolate that my daughter gave me.
The chocolates that my daughter made for me...they were delicious!
Have you seen the photos of the “2001 September 11th attacks” on the World Trade Center towers in New York City that were recently made public?
These photos were taken by New York Police Officers who were on the scene in a police helicopter.
Here are some of the photos they took:
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The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver, Canada.
The opening ceremony is scheduled to begin on Friday, 2010 February 12th in the evening…Canada time. So, it’ll be Saturday, 2010 February 13th here in Japan when the ceremony begins.
The official 2010 Olympics logo.
The games will go from 2010 February 12-28 (Canada time).
Do you watch the Olympics?
I watch them…but the games go for over two weeks—I don’t watch everyday of the games. I like to watch some of the opening ceremony and some of the closing ceremony and a few games in between.
This year, Japan is sending 95 athletes to compete in the Olympics, America is sending 216, and Canada (the host country) will have 206 athletes play.
How many athletes from your country will be at the 2010 Olympics?
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Sunday, February 14th will be Valentine’s Day.
How is Valentine’s Day celebrated in your country?
In Japan, it’s done the opposite of how America celebrates it. And Japan has another holiday (called “White Day“) in March that is more similar to Western-style Valentine’s.
Click here to read my FAQ about Valentine’s Day in Japan…
and click here to read my post that explains Japanese Valentine’s (and other holidays in February) in more detail.
Also, this year on February 14 will be the Chinese New Years.
I mentioned it on my site’s “Festivals In Tokyo” page….click here to read it.
Have you ever experienced a Chinese New Years ceremony?
If you’re in the Tokyo area this weekend, you can go to 「横浜中華街」 (“Yokohama China Town“) and see a Chinese New Years ceremony.
Today is 「ホワイト・デー」 (White Day).
(Click here to read my F.A.Q. about 「ホワイト・デー」 (White Day)).
「ホワイト・デー」 (White Day) is the day the men give gifts to the women who gave them chocolate on 「バレンタイン・デー」 (Valentine’s Day)…so I gave chocolate to my wife and daughters today.
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Yesterday was Friday The 13th. Just last month, the 13th was on the Friday too…and I wrote a post about it. (Click here to read it.)
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In Osaka, fans of the Japanese baseball team The Hanshin Tigers are quite zealous.
When their team wins, many fans jump into a nearby river. It’s a Hanshin Tigers tradition.
In 1985, the Hanshin Tigers won the Japan Baseball Championship for the first time.
Many fans, of course, jumped into the river…and one fan took the Colonel Sanders statue* from the front of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and threw it into the river.
(*In Japan, KFC restaurants have lifesize statues of Colonel Sanders out front.)
The Hanshin Tigers have never won the Japan Baseball Championship pendant again.
An urban legend developed that the Tigers‘ bad luck since 1985 was due to the 「カーネルサンダースの呪い」 (“Curse Of Colonel Sanders“)!
And the curse wouldn’t be lifted, and the Hanshin Tigers bad luck end, until the statue was retrieved from the river.
(I wrote a comment on another post about this “curse”. Click here to read it).
Well…last Tuesday, the statue of Colonel Sanders was found by divers in the river.
As you might expect, the statue’s not in the best condition after sitting on the riverbed for 24 years…but I guess the 「カーネルサンダースの呪い」 (“Curse Of Colonel Sanders“) has ended.
So, the Hanshin Tigers have no excuse if the continue to lose!
Many overseas companies want to open shops in Japan.
The Japanese market is very lucrative…for companies that prove to be popular here. But the Japanese consumer is very finicky. Companies that don’t meet Japanese expectations are doomed to fail.
For example, the American donut company, Dunkin’ Donuts, is popular in America. But when they opened stores in Japan, the Japanese people found their donuts too sweet…and Dunkin’ Donuts was unable to stay in Japan.
On the other hand, the less-sweet American donut chain Mister Donuts is very popular in Japan. (Ironically, Mister Donuts isn’t very popular in America).
Krispy Kreme Donuts set up shops in Tokyo recently, too.
Some American chains have been bought by a Japanese company and were brought here by their new Japanese owners. For example, the convenience store chain 7-Eleven was bought by the Japanese department store Ito-Yokado. (A couple years ago Ito-Yokado changed the signs on their department stores to reflect their connection with the popular convenience store they own…their signs now say “Seven & i Holdings” on the Ito-Yokado stores.)
7-Eleven (and other convenience stores) are very popular in Japan. Japan is a small country, but there are almost twice as many 7-Eleven stores here than in all of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico combined!
Convenience stores in Japan are very different from their counterparts in America. Japanese convenience stores are great!
7 & i Holdings, the Japanese company that owns 7-Eleven also owns the restaurant chain Denny’s. Denny’s in Japan have a different menu than Denny’s in America. I like Denny’s Japan better (but that may be because I’ve been in Japan for awhile now, and I’m more used to Japanese style food).
デニーズ・レストラン「セブン＆アイ HLDGS」 (Denny
The American bakery Vie de France is in Japan, too. But it’s not American anymore either…Yamazaki Bread owns this company. I like Vie de France. Their bread is excellent.
Of course, American fast-food chains are here…
ケンタッキー (KFC) in Japan.
I have wrote a post about Domino’s Pizza in Japan. Click here to see it.
I like Subway sandwich shop, alot. The Japanese Subway sandwich shop. The menu is much better at Subway Japan than the U.S. branches.
There are Japanese fast-food restaurants, too. These include MOS Burger, First Kitchen, and Freshness Burger (which has beer on the menu! 🙂 ). Occasionally you can still find a Dom-Dom Burger, and there used to be a chain called Love Hamburger. Love Hamburger went out-of -business about 12 years ago and the U.S. chain Burger King bought all of the Love Burger shops and opened Burger King in Japan in the late ’90s…but they made the ill-fated decision to offer only a limited menu to test the Japanese market. That didn’t go over well and soon they went out-of-business in Japan, too.
But recently, Burger King decided to re-try the Japanese market…and I guess they learned from their past mistakes—they seem to be doing well in Japan now.
There are also branches of Sizzler, Outback, and Tony Romas in Japan.
All of these foreign companies that have stores in Tokyo (How many of these have stores in your town? Do you shop at any of these?):
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 "The Body Shop" in Tokyo |
 "Godiva Chocolate" in Tokyo |
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 Toys "Я" Us |
There are other foreign companies here, too…but you get the idea.
All of these foreign companies have to keep on their toes and provide the service and products that the Japanese expect…and for each of these foreign stores in Japan, there are Japanese companies that provide similar products that they have to compete with. But if the effort is worth it…Japan is the most profitable market for most of these companies.
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Anyways, today is Valentine’s Day.
My wife and daughters made delicious chocolate for me. ♥
(Click here to read a post I wrote about Valentines Day in Japan).
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Tokyo Five 
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