バレンタイン – Valentine’s Day

Normally, on Valentine’s Day a girl in Japan gives chocolate or some other gift to a guy.  Typically Japanese girls are shy, so this is the day that they are encouraged to be a little more expressive.  However, in recent years (probably due to the influence of the U.S.) guys have started giving gifts to girls on Valentine’s Day as well. This is called “reverse chocolate (逆チョコ)”.  Many females simply enjoy preparing Valentine’s Day gifts, so we may buy or make chocolate for male friends, male family members, male coworkers, etc., and these are called “obligation chocolates (義理チョコ)”. lol