Here in America, the stores are full of chocolates and heart-shaped helium-filled balloons. Flower shops are putting together their best arrangements of roses, and jewelers are laying out their flashiest diamonds. Drug stores are selling more cards than they do almost any other time of the year, and restaurants are readying for a busy night of sweet nothings. What does this all mean? Valentine’s Day is coming up! But although this is the American way of celebrating, other countries have special traditions unique to them.
Japan
In Japan, Valentine’s Day is all about the women giving gifts to the men in their lives. These gifts, usually chocolate, can range from a small store-bought sample to larger, sometimes homemade, confectionery masterpieces. The former is often given to the men she might know from her family or in the workplace. The latter given to her sweetheart, or perhaps someone she is expressing her feelings to for the first time. However men aren’t completely off the hook. In fact it is considered poor form if he does not reciprocate the gifts. One month later, on March 14, comes White Day, bringing with it the opportunity for men to give a gift back to all the women he received a gift from the month before.
Denmark
Many couples here will exchange “lover’s cards” on Feb. 14, but the card most unique to this area is the “gaekkebrev”. The man sending this special card will write a rhyme for the lady to whom he’s sending it, but he will only sign off with a dot for each letter of his name. The trick is then for the lady receiving the card to guess the name of the sender. If she manages to do this, her prize will be an Easter egg on Easter. If she does not manage to do this, she owes the sender an Easter egg instead.
Slovenia
The annual day of love celebrated in Slovenia actually falls on March 12, Saint Gregory’s Day. But Valentine’s Day is still celebrated in its own way. Traditions there state that plants begin to grow on the middle day of February and that this is also the day that birds of the field propose to and marry their loved ones. Valentine’s Day is typically the first day back to work in the fields for workers in agriculture.
Brazil
Brazil actually doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day at all because it falls much too close to the wild celebrations of Carnival. Instead “Dia dos Namorados”, meaning Lovers’ Day or Boyfriends’ / Girlfriends’ Day, is celebrated on June 12. This date is on the eve of St. Anthony’s Day, the patron saint of loving companions and good marriages. This special day brings with it the standard exchange of flowers, love letters and chocolate seen in much of the world on Valentine’s Day.
China
China celebrates two Valentine’s Days, the first being the commercially recognized one on Feb. 14. The second day of love falls on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. This day – known as “Qi Xi”, “Magpie Festival”, or “The Night of Sevens” – comes from a Chinese legend in which a young cowherd and a weaver girl, daughter of the Goddess, met on earth and were married. When the Goddess discovered this she ordered her daughter back to heaven. The cowherd followed her there and in anger the Goddess cut a river into the sky (the Milky Way), thus separating the two. But once a year, all the magpies of the world flew up to the Milky Way to bridge the river and allow the two lovers to meet. There are variations of this story, but the outcome is always the same. In modern China, many of the old traditions of this festival have faded out, being replaced by the traditional Valentine’s Day fare.
“St. Valentine’s Day: Around the World,” Penumbra.
“Danish Easter Traditions,” Wonderful Denmark.
“How Fruitful is Love? Valentine’s Day in Slovenia,” Sloveniaholidays.com
“Dia dos Namorados: Brazilian Valentine’s Day,” Zeljka de Rio de Janeiro.
“Qixi — the Chinese Valentine’s Day,” China.org.cn
More from Lissa:
5 Unusual Wedding Customs from Around the World