In Japan, Valentine’s Day has gone, yet the stores are still filled with decorations of hearts, chocolates, flowers, and other romantic paraphernalia. After seeing all of this stuff about a month prior, you’d think you wouldn’t have to deal with this stuff until the next year. But before explaining this phenomenon, let’s go over a little background about Valentine’s Day in Japan.

As a guy in Japan, Valentine’s Day can be one of sheer bliss. Japanese girls are very shy to show their interest in someone (outside of the Osaka region) from my experience. And Valentine’s Day gives them the excuse to express their feelings to someone they like. This can be easily found out by the type of chocolate they give. If a girl gives chocolate that is wrapped and simply bought from the store, consider this as a message saying, “We’re friends.” Period. This is considered giri-choko, or in other words, an obligation to a friend or an acquaintance. This is also a very common exchange between female co-workers and male co-workers as well. However, if a girl gives anything that is made from scratch, also known as tezukuri-choko, she sees you as much more than just a friend.

If you are already old enough to be in the working world, you may be lucky enough to get lots of chocolates from acquaintances and secret admirers. Or, you may be unlucky enough to get none…

So what’s with all the chocolate that’s still left in the stores? Well, if you were a guy on the receiving end of Valentine’s Day, don’t think that you’re off the hook and don’t have to get anything for anyone. On March 14th, a day known as White Day is celebrated, on which the men who received gifts on Valentine’s Day are expected to give a gift back in return. Well, not totally expected, but it’d be nice if they did. You get the picture.

Once all the Valentine’s Day decorations have been taken down, the stores immediately stock up on chocolate products, flowers, and gifts giving constant reminders that White Day is just as important as Valentine’s Day. As of recently, lingerie has become a popular White Day gift between lovers.

As for me, I’ve been lucky enough to receive both types of chocolates on Valentine’s Day, a good amount of them being giri-choko and a few tezukuri-choko. Receiving handmade chocolates was a pleasant surprise.

A girl trying to find the right opportunity where she can be discreet, whispers “come over here for a moment,” then hands you something that she made for you, and quickly darts off in embarrassment.

This is certainly a scene that has been done over and over in manga, anime, dramas, and movies. Never thinking that these scenes would actually happen in real life, I was not only amazed that it actually did happen to me, but I was amazed at how it was done. Textbook style, step-by-step, right out from what I’ve read and watched and into my life.

So after the momentary bliss of receiving and eating the chocolates, especially after the serotonin high, I was left with the predicament of having to return the favor to all those who had given me chocolate. Even though most guys don’t return the favor for all that they receive, I try to be considerate to all those who took the time to give me something.

The only problem is, once my basket was quite full of chocolates, I began to sense a bit of a negative vibe from other customers. Not only that, I felt that the lady at the register was a tad bit colder to me than usual. Apparently, being a nice guy doesn’t bode well here in Japan. After shopping, I quickly left the store so that I could be left with only the worry of having to give the gifts. So what’s the lesson that I have learned here? When buying numerous White Day gifts, either go to different stores or buy in separate runs. Buying all the gifts at one time should be avoided.

The actual day isn't that much different from Valentine's Day. Male co-workers giving female co-workers giri-choko, male students trying to be as discreet as possible, and lovers going out around town. There just isn't as much anticipation compared to Valentine's Day from a guy's perspective unless you have someone special to give something to.

For this coming White Day, I didn't buy anything special for anyone in particular. Just some nice and simple chocolates for those who gave some to me a month ago. I just hope that White Day next year won't be the same.