Sunday, 18 February 2007

Valentine's Day, White Day, Orange Day, Black Day...

Well Japan celebrated Valentine's Day last week so Japanese women everywhere were seen racing around buying their men. I still find it just so... Japanese how the culture adopted the western celebration and naturally assumed that the woman should give the man a present and the man should simple receive it.

The holiday has been further warped though by the peer pressure in Japan causing women to give Valentine's Day chocolates to all of their co-workers, friends in addition to their boyfriends or/and husband.

A truly disturbing abuse of the holiday is for socially retarded grown women to use the gift giving as a way to tell a man that she's interested in him. Fair enough, I'm sure some children do this at school in Australia, America, etc with the cliché "Be My Valentine" cards but these are children and not mature adults who most would expect to have developed at least a little social ability by the age of 18.

Seriously, think about this. In this day and age, adults only give chocolate/ flowers/ cards to people they're already in a relationship with. Confessing your love for someone for the first time over a gift exchange would be met with laughter and a possible assumption of stalker tendencies and immaturity. If you like someone, be an adult and tell them.

Luckily for those socially awkward Japanese men who find telling their special someone how much they appreciate them, a holiday called White Day is celebrated one month later on the 14th of March where they can give women an "obligation chocolate" to say thank you for the Valentine's Day gift they received a month prior.

Now, very recently Sunkist, wanting to boost orange sales, started their own holiday based on the crazy idea that a man and a woman can exchange gifts and express affection on the same day called Orange Day! It's celebrated a month after White Day on the 14th of April and has been growing in popularity with each year and also has the double name of "Partner Day" where you get to respect your partner. Pretty outrageous, huh? Reminds of a holiday we have in Australia called Valentine's Day.

I do actually like the idea of Orange Day in Japan though as it gives those in same sex relationships a chance to participate in a romantic themed holiday after being excluded from Valentine's Day and White Day for so long.

Funnily enough a holiday called Black Day (or Singles Day) which started in Korea and spread throughout China has also popped up in Japan in the few years I've been here. This day is for people who are single and/or didn't get any presents for Valentine's Day to get together and party.

Is it just me or is it strange that one fourth of the months in Japan feature a romance themed holiday?

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Labels: japan, Japanese Social Issues, Orange Day, Valentines Day, White Day