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Japanese women lead V-Day wooing
It's the lady's turn to take initiatives this Valentine's day in Japan.
Japanese women are spending many sleepless nights trying to think of the perfect gift for their special Valentine. Unlike in the West, women are expected to take the initiative on this day in Japan.
To ease their minds, confectioners and department stores have already started offering this year's new chocolate-related products, as the delicacy is the preferred means of expressing love on Valentine's Day February 14.
Women can select either designer-brand bite size chocolate or brown square pieces with photographic images printed on them.
Chocolate-maker Oriol Balaguer offers wasabi or soy sauce flavour at its branch in Tokoyo's luxurious Shirogane district.
Could women experience romance akin to that of Johnny Depp's with Juliet Binoche in the movie Chocolat with vinaigrette choco or black pepper sprinkled bitter sweet?
A hotel in one of Tokyo's wealthiest neighbourhoods, Akasaka, offers to cover a couple from head to toe in chocolate cream and aroma.
Cocoa polyphenols and caffeine revitalise the skin, while the aroma stimulates dopamine secretion, the Akasaka Prince Hotel says.
The Valentine's Day special package includes a one-night stay, an hour of chocolate facial pack and hand massage, another hour of Hawaiian massage in chocolate cream and room delivery of fresh chocolate. The service costs ¥18,000 ($150) per person.
Payback time for women dawns on March 14 or White Day when men have to return their feelings - provided they are mutual. For that reason, the chocolate massage is available till March 14.
