VALENTINE'S DAY IN JAPAN : WHY THE GIRLS DO THE GIVING?

Valentine’s Day in Japan : Why the girls do the giving?

It’s Valentine’s Day! Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Like the previous article, I will talk about Valentine’s Day in Japan again. As we know before, Valentine’s Day in Japan is a bit different from the other country. It’s not because of their culture. It’s not a trends too. They always do the giving on Valentine’s Day like a tradition. This ‘tradition’ became firmly established in the '60s, and by the '70s was a big business. So, why always the girl who give the chocolates? Actually the concept of Valentine’s Day was introduced to Japan by a chocolate company in Kobe. They made an advertisement to urge people to give a chocolate for their loved ones but it wasn’t until 1950. But it seems that they just sold it at Kobe. According to an article in the Yomiuri shimbun newspaper in 1998, the first mentioned about Valentine’s Day was by a chocolate company called Merry Chocolates. At first, they sold it in the department store and give the sign of “Valentine’s Sale”. Although at that time it’s just give a little effects on the first year. On the next year, they made it again but into a heart-shaped chocolate and give the sign “for ladies [to give] to gentleman” and this time is work. J

Source: Source: http://englishworm.com/list?keyword=japanagos&orderby=pagepath
http://justhungry.com/uniquely-japanese-valentines-day-tradition-compartmentalized-chocolate-giving