Uhhhh....I haven't seen him!
Okay - so anything is possible, sure - but I'm not holding my breath for my prince charming while I'm in Japan. Sorry, Mom.
Read on....
Yes, we do have Valentine's Day in Japan, but it's not quite the same as it is in the states. Big dates are not huge (that night is Xmas Eve) and big gifts aren't either. Actually, only guys get gifts on Valentine's Day - What the #*@%? It's okay, ladies - we only have to give em chocolate and then we get our day a month later - on White Day. Yes, March 14th is a day reserved just for the ladies to receive (usually white) chocolate or candies (perhaps marshmallows - since it is said that it was a marshmallow company that made up the holiday). Kids at school don't usually exchange valentines as we do back home. But rather, they sometimes pick one or two children of the opposite sex to give chocolate to. This gets parents all excited as they discover whether or not their child has an admirer. Kinda sad for the kid who gets nothing if ya ask me.
It is not uncommon in Japan for kids to only see their dads on the weekends - if that. Many fathers actually have separate apartments away from their family and closer to their office during the week. The most interesting part to me, however, is that Japanese wives, for the most part, tell me that they like it this way and wouldn't want their husband home any more than this - because it's just like having another kid in the house. Eeeks.
Foreign guys, no matter how gnarly and repulsive they may be in their home country, are gods to the average young Japanese woman. Okay, so this is a huge generalization - but I would be happy to prove it to any of you who come for a visit. This is in large part why many foreign men stay longer in Japan than foreign women.
