Editing Valentine's Day (section)

====Japan====
In Japan, [[Morozoff Ltd.]] introduced the holiday for the first time in 1936, when it ran an advertisement aimed at foreigners. Later, in 1953, it began promoting the giving of heart-shaped chocolates; other Japanese confectionery companies followed suit thereafter. In 1958, the [[Isetan]] [[Department stores in Japan|department store]] ran a "Valentine sale". Further campaigns during the 1960s popularized the custom.<ref name=japantimes>{{cite news |last=Gordenker |first=Alice |title=White Day |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2006/03/21/news/white-day/ |work=[[The Japan Times]] |date=March 21, 2006 |access-date=June 30, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106054215/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2006/03/21/news/white-day/ |archive-date=January 6, 2014}}</ref><ref name="rupp">{{Cite book |title= Gift-giving in Japan: cash, connections, cosmologies |author= Katherine Rupp |edition= illustrated |publisher= [[Stanford University Press]] |year= 2003 |isbn= 0-8047-4704-0 |pages= 149–151 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KHkyUp-EH2MC&q=japan+valentine%27s+day&pg=PA145 |access-date= November 4, 2020 |archive-date= March 24, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230324141209/https://books.google.com/books?id=KHkyUp-EH2MC&q=japan+valentine%27s+day&pg=PA145 |url-status= live }}</ref>

[[File:Valentine's chocolates in Japan 2.jpg|thumb|Valentine's chocolates in Japan]]
The custom that only women give chocolates to men may have originated from the translation error of a chocolate-company executive during the initial campaigns.<ref name="jasgp">{{Cite web |title=Valentine's Day in Japan |author=Chris Yeager |date=February 13, 2009 |publisher=[[Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia]] (JASGP) |url= http://jasgp.org/content/view/636/179/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725083844/http://jasgp.org/content/view/636/179/ |archive-date=July 25, 2011 }}</ref> In particular, [[Office lady|office ladies]] give chocolate to their co-workers. Unlike western countries, gifts such as greeting cards,<ref name="jasgp"/> candies, [[flower]]s, or [[dating|dinner dates]]<ref name="yoshimura"/> are uncommon, and most of the gifts-related activity is about giving the right amount of chocolate to each person.<ref name="jasgp"/> Japanese chocolate companies make half their annual sales during this time of the year.<ref name="jasgp"/>

Many women feel obliged to give chocolates to all male co-workers, except when the day falls on a Sunday, a holiday. This is known as {{nihongo3||義理チョコ|[[giri choco|giri-choko]]}}, from {{transliteration|ja|[[Giri (Japanese)|giri]]}} ('obligation') and {{transliteration|ja|choko}}, ('chocolate'), with unpopular co-workers receiving only {{nihongo|"ultra-obligatory"|超義理チョコ|chō-giri choko}} cheap chocolate. This contrasts with {{nihongo3|lit. "true feeling chocolate"|本命チョコ|[[honmei choco|honmei-choko]]}}, chocolate given to a loved one. Friends, especially girls, may exchange chocolate referred to as {{nihongo3|from {{transliteration|ja|'tomo'}} meaning "friend"|友チョコ|tomo-choko}}.<ref>{{cite book | title = [[Office Ladies and Salaried Men: Power, Gender, and Work in Japanese Companies]] | author = Yuko Ogasawara | edition = illustrated | editor = [[University of California Press]] | year = 1998 | isbn = 0-520-21044-1 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=9_yjfAZo4jIC&q=japan+chocolate+saint+valentin&pg=PA98 98]–113, 142–154, 156, 163 | url =  | publisher = [[University of California Press]]| location = Berkeley }}</ref>

In the 1980s, the Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association launched a successful campaign to make March 14 a "reply day", on which men are expected to return the favour to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine's Day, calling it [[White Day]] for the color of the chocolates being offered. A previous failed attempt to popularize this celebration had been done by a [[marshmallow]] manufacturer who wanted men to return marshmallows to women.<ref name="japantimes"/><ref name="rupp"/>

In Japan, the romantic "date night" associated with Valentine's Day is celebrated on [[Christmas Eve]].<ref>{{cite web |date= February 14, 2007 |author= Ron Huza |title= Lost in translation: The cultural divide over Valentine's Day |work= [[The Gazette (Montreal)|The Gazette]] |url= http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.html?id=2ae6a44a-2f29-45a3-a257-2a13b3d3149d |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084251/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.html?id=2ae6a44a-2f29-45a3-a257-2a13b3d3149d |archive-date= March 4, 2016 |df= mdy-all }}</ref>