I think that Japanese Valentine's Day is very interesting. ほんめいチョコ seems a bit intimidating, since it is giving chocolate as a confession of love. I suppose in America you can give a Valentine as a confession of love, too, but I've never known anyone who did that. ともチョコ is nice, as is ギリチョコ, that way hopefully everyone gets chocolate, not just the ones who get a love confession. Although, with ほんめいチョコ, ともチョコ, and ギリチョコ, there's a lot of chocolate to give! White Day is good, because otherwise I would have to make a major objection to only girls giving chocolates on Valentine's Day, since I love chocolate. I'm not sure how well it works in actual practice though. A lot of guys I know would probably just forget who'd given them chocolate, and not give anything in return.
I suppose the observation that Japanese exchange gifts so many times because of marketing propaganda could have some truth to it. It seems a bit unfair to suggest that that's the entire reason for it, though. I like to think that it's more about friendliness and expressing gratitude, because viewing it solely as the product of pervasive advertising is a bit depressing.
If I were in Japan as a US international student, I would like to participate in Valentine's Day. I would give ともチョコ and ギリチョコ, but I don't think I would give ほんめいチョコ (even if there was someone I wanted to give it to). That would be too intimidating for me.
Yes, it's a fun day in Japan! When I was a school girl, I thought V-Day is a great idea b/c I can confess my love to someone I like. It's just like a love letter. :> On the White Day, guys can also express their feelings towards girls as the differentiate the return gifts...
返信削除I think both White Day and Valentine's day would be great occasions in Japan as smaller lighter gifts are exchanged. It seems as you say, that in America it gets a bit intimidating, like an all or nothing sort of love is portrayed through the gifts. I would do my best to remember every girl who gave me chocolate, and do the best to get at least a card or something nice back to them, but I suppose one can forget, and that probably hurts the girl. I would do my best to keep the gifts as equal as possible, unless I truely loved someone, but I would be nervous of the return gift as well.
返信削除I think maybe the love of gift giving is being exploited a bit by the marketing propaganda, but it doesn't take away the real meaning of the gifts behind it...
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