In Japan, Valentine's is a celebration more fully celebrated to be inclusive for all people. To that end there are two days involved in the celebration.
Men are usually expected to do very little on February 14th and it is the women who are expected to be the principal gift-giver. Not just to their partner, but also to men with who they share any kind of significant relationship.
Another big difference is the kind of gift given: while cards, flowers, jewelry or expensive dinners are all considered fair game for Valentine’s Day in many countries, there is only one acceptable option in Japan: lots and lots of chocolate.
However, just because men don’t have to spend money on Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean they get away with not reciprocating for the rest of the year.
White Day was not actually established until the 1980s, when the Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association successfully campaigned to implement a ‘reply day’ for men to reciprocate the presents they received from women on St. Valentine’s.
The day was so named because the color white is considered a symbol of purity and is closely associated with an innocent kind of teen love in Japanese culture.
On White Day, men are expected to present girls with gifts roughly two or three times the value of what they received a month earlier.
If the man does not return any gifts at all, it is considered a disdainful spurn, while simply giving the equivalent amount of chocolate they received is perceived as a sign that they wish to cut the relationship.
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