Valentine’s day in Canada has some similarities and differences from Japan. Both cultures give and receive chocolates to express love, appreciation or kindness towards another. The chocolates or gifts also mean different things depending on what is it and who you give it to. However, the confessing culture is different. In Japan people give chocolates to others that they like even though they may have never spoken or interacted with them before. While in Canada, people give chocolate to their significant other who they are already dating.  No one really confesses on Valentine’s Day. Personally, on Valentine’s Day I do very little to celebrate the actual holiday. This year I gave chocolates to my close friends, but I usually don’t give anything. It is also one of my best friend’s birthday so I focus more on her celebration. I feel like Valentine’s Day is a bit cringe and sappy and I don’t think it is that important.

Regardless of how I feel now, Valentine’s Day in elementary school was important to me and others. I liked decorating my Valentine’s Day bag that held the treats classmates gave out. The best part was seeing my bag full of candies and eating them later. Although, I didn’t like writing my Valentine’s cards and attaching the candy to it. It took up a lot of time because I had to write everyone’s, including mine, names on it. When I was in the younger grades, I didn’t know how to spell certain names, so I had to get help from my mom, and I was slow at writing. Giving out chocolates to classmates stop at the end of elementary school in Canada. But in Japan, it carries on to high school and even to workplaces. People feel obligated to give their classmates, co-workers or other acquaintances. This type of gifting is called “Giri Choco”. Stated in the website below, some companies banned Giri Choco because they think it is useless and puts an obligated burden on people. It can also create misunderstanding on what type of gift they are receiving. The intention of the giver could be giving a giri choco but the receiver may think they are getting a honmei choco (love chocolate). I agree with this reasoning and think that Canada should not take on the excessive giving of giri chocco.

https://sakura.co/blog/valentines-day-in-japan-giri-honmei-choco

I don’t like the concept of kokuhaku in Japan because its very different from Canada and I feel like its more awkward. Kokuhaku is basically confessing your love to someone, but unlike Canadians, Japanese people confess to other that they barely know. In the west, people get to know each other before finding out their true feelings and confessing them. In Japan, many people confess to other that they have barely interacted or talked with. I find this weird and awkward because what if they start dating and come to realization that they don’t like each other anymore. Its also weird being confessed to by someone you barely know because you wonder why they like you if they don’t even know what you are like. Honmei choco is given to love interests and are usually homemade. Girls (usually) buy chocolate making supplies from the department store to make for their love interest. This chocolate is homemade to show the amount of effort and affection put into the chocolate in hopes that they would accept their confession. I also don’t like this concept if you aren’t already dating because you put so much time and effort into making chocolate just to maybe get rejected.

However, kokuhaku has some positives. It is very direct, and you know the person’s true feelings. Situationships don’t really exist because almost everyone is direct with their feeling and there is little room for misunderstandings. According to this video, confessing and dating goes quickly. They go on a few dates before someone ends up confessing. Majority of people in Japan confess before officially dating because they are scared that they are going to lose the other person if they don’t make it clear that they like them and want to date. Meanwhile, in Canada and other countries, people don’t really do confessions and just start dating. After a few dates, both parties know whether they like each other or not and will keep going out with them if they want to pursue a romantic relationship. It is based off intuition and reading each others vibe.

Valentine’s Day in Japan and Canada have many similarities and some differences. The types of chocolate given are the same like tomo choco (friend chocolate), giri choco (obligation chocolate) and honmei choco (love chocolate). But Japan takes the level of gifting to the next level, and it seems more intense. I am happy with Canada’s way of Valentine’s Day and I wouldn’t want to change it to the way Japan does it.