Valentine’s Day in Japan
In Japan, Valentine’s Day is observed on February 14 but the celebration of love truly ends on March 14, known as the “White Day”. On the first date, women give gifts or give chocolates to the men they love, to co-workers and male friends. Gifting chocolates is a typical way to celebrate Valentine’s day in Japan because chocolate is the most popular gift in the country. Gift shops all over Japan pile their shelves with chocolate long before Valentine’s Day. Men who receive chocolates or gifts for Valentine’s Day are supposed to return the favor to the women a month later, on a “White Day”.
Valentine’s Day in Italy
Valentine’s Day in Italy is mainly seen as a holiday imported from US, just like Halloween, Father’s Day or Mother’s Day. The day is celebrated mainly by the young people who take this opportunity to profess love to their sweethearts the American way with Valentine’s gifts like perfume, chocolates, flowers, cards or jewelleries. The day is seen here marked exclusively for lovers, and hence, family members and friends do not exchange gifts. Couples usually go out for dinners at pizzeria or restaurant which ends with lovers’ giving gifts to each other. A popular Valentine’s Day gifts in Italy is Baci Perugina – a small, chocolate-covered hazelnut containing a small slip of paper with a romantic poetic quote in four languages.
Valentine’s Day in Denmark
In Denmark, February 14 is mainly a day for the young. It’s a time for romance and giving gifts. Here, the festival is celebrated in a very conventional manner. Young people send gifts and valentine cards, known as “lover’s cards”, to their beloveds. Earlier, these came in the form of transparent cards which, when kept before light, reflected the picture of a lover handing over a wonderful Valentine’s present to his beloved. Nowadays, many newer varieties of lover’s cards have come up and every year before Valentine’s Day card shops all across the country are seen to be stacked up with colorful and musical lover’s cards containing lovely Valentine messages. Another Danish Valentine’s Day custom is to send flowers, which are pressed, usually of a white color and are called Snowdrops to friends.