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.

The Japanese version of Spiderman differs quite a bit from the western version, mostly in the plot. Takuya Yamashiro who is a motorcycle racer got his powers by encountering a guy who is from the planet Spider. The guy, Garia wants to avenge his planet because it got destroyed by an evil group called the Iron Cross Army. He gives Takuya “spider extract” which makes him gain powers. Takuya’s goal is to fight the Iron Cross Army because it was their fault that is father died and to fulfill Garia’s wish. Peter Parker is a high school student who went on a field trip to see spiders. While he was distracted, a genetically altered spider bit him causing him to gain powers. Peter Parker fights more humanized creatures who are threatening the city. Both spidermen have the same costume and string power, but the main difference is that Takuya is fighting for revenge and Peter is fighting to protect.

I would say that the graphics and costuming are the most interesting part of this show. Whenever the Iron Cross Army shows up its funny because they are toy looking robots. Its hard to take them seriously when they look so plasticity and childish. This show was made quite some time ago so the graphics are obviously not good, but they still could have made the villains scarier. Supaidaman’s costume is also funny because it looks poorly made. The fabric is very thin, his eyes are glittery, too high up and too small. Other than that, I would say that the other costumes look cool. I am a fan of Garia and Professor Monster’s outfits because they are detailed and relate to their character.

I would recommend this show to others if they are bored and looking for something interesting but funny to watch. This show is unintentionally funny because it is very outdated and overdramatic. It has a good number of episodes to get invested in without having too many to the point that people won’t want to watch it anymore. I think that it’s a perfect show to watch casually because its very simple to follow along and its hard to forget the plot.

I think that future generations would think that our media is cringy and overdramatic. I find that as the years go on, media becomes less dramatic and has a lack of flair. Serious themes are being introduced and consumed more often and I think this trend will keep on going into the future. Even if we think that our media today is amazing, future generations probably will disagree. This is a cycle that will keep on happening throughout humanity.

School in Japan is quite different from Canada, but still have some similarities. Some differences are that Japanese schools use blackboards, the desks are arranged in rows, students stay with their class all year and all middle and high school students wear uniforms. Some similarities are that there are 3 levels of school, elementary, middle, high and that there are a lot of clubs. I wish that students were more involved in clubs, I would say only about half the students in Centennial are a part of a club. In Japan basically everyone is a part of a club. I think this is because people over here do more outside of school activities instead of their school clubs. Students in Japan don’t have much time after school to do these activities. A lot of them have cram school (after school school) and don’t come home until very late.

I think that students should have more responsibilities at school to prepare them for the future. Its important for kids to build on good habits at an early age. It also teaches kids to respect property and be tidy because they will have to clean it up in the end. Students will also feel more connected to their school and have a stronger community because everyone is working together to make it a better place to learn.

I would say that I am decent at じゃんけん. I don’t win a lot, but also don’t lose a lot. To snag leftovers, I think that I would make it to the final rounds but lose in the end. I don’t have a strategy for rock paper scissors so I just throw random hands in hopes that I would win. I think that having a strategy would help my chances go up.