Japanese women fight for their Valentines

Elbowing each other in the stampede to buy Valentine’s Day chocolate for the men in their lives, Japanese women brought stores to a standstill yesterday.
In Japan, the menfolk do sweet nothing on Feb. 14 while the women do battle in heaving aisles, loading up on confectionery treats for the object of their desire. If they are lucky, the guys will reciprocate on White Day in March, when traditionally they give a white gift, from sweets to lingerie.
“My feet hurt, my arms hurt and my head hurts,” said Kana Shimizu, clutching two dainty bags of Belgian chocolate that cost more than ￥10,000 (US$88.32) at a plush store in Tokyo’s Ginza district. “This one is for my boyfriend, the other one is for me. I don’t want him having all the fun.”
Having splurged on honmei (true love) chocolate, the 27-year-old hair stylist raced off to find somewhere less upmarket to buy giri (obligation) treats for her male work colleagues.
“They can make do with cheap chocolate,” she said. “No, seriously. It’s such a pain every year.”
Entire floors of Japan’s cavernous department stores are dedicated to Valentine’s Day, showcases brimming with heart-shaped treats by international chocolatiers.
“I’m here with my wife,” 42-year-old architect Riki Taniguchi said. “I’ve got my eye on the Belgian chocolate, but I’m not sure she thinks I deserve it.”
Valentine’s Day first appeared in Japan in the late 1950s as the economy picked up after the devastation of World War II and Western products were highly prized as the nation acquired a taste for sophistication and luxury.
At the time, a firm called Mary Chocolate advertised Feb. 14 as “the only day of the year a woman professes her love through presenting chocolate” — establishing it as Japan’s currency of romance, to the chagrin of florists, jewellers and makers of skimpy lingerie.
Chocolate has been available in Japan since the late 18th century, when Dutch traders — the only Europeans allowed a foothold in an otherwise closed nation — gave it to prostitutes as a form of payment.
These days, it seems, almost anything goes and couples can share a bowl of chocolate-drizzled ramen noodles, eat McDonald’s chocolate fries or even hop into a chocolate hot spring bath courtesy of some of the most bizarre recent marketing gimmicks.
Half of Japan’s US$11 billion chocolate business, Asia’s largest, is spent this month, retailers said.