As I've mentioned before, many western holidays are adopted by the Japanese. Valentine's Day is no exception. Here, the day is marked by WOMEN giving chocolates to MEN. These can be men they work for, their husbands, fathers, friends...but the men receive the chocolate gifts. I could speculate why this is so, but I'll keep to the point. When Robin met me at the concert last night, he came bearing a little Satie bag from Mitsukoshi Department Store. In it were the most heavenly chocolates I've ever eaten. They are the ones I used to take around to my friends who also taught in the Middle School, just to watch their faces as the chocolate melted in their mouths! It's really that good. I was pleased that he took the time and made the effort to go out of his way, and told him so with a kiss.
This morning as I was slowly waking up, he sat down on the edge of the bed and described his experience. Apparently, the counter in the store was decorated for women- totally over the top- and when he got there, it was a mob scene. The Japanese women were 3 or 4 deep around the display, all shouting and gesturing as if they were in the bull pit at the NY stock exchange. (They can be very aggressive when they want to be!) They were buying multiple boxes each, some seemed to be buying dozens. The image of my large gaijin husband, quietly making his way through the noisy female throng, to buy one single box of chocolates, is a comical and heart melting one. What a guy.
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