Feb. 19, 2025

With St. Valentine's Day just having passed us, many Americans received chocolate boxes, heart-shaped treats, conversation hearts, and Valentine’s cards from their friends and family. Girls hosted Galentines parties and schools had their students bring treats for their classmates. These American “symbols” of love could be seen in almost every store, commercial, and even some fast-food chains (see Chick-fil-A nugget heart trays). But with all these things being so common in the U.S., it’s interesting to consider if they’re popular in other countries and if Valentine’s is celebrated differently around the world.

In Japan, for example, couples will celebrate with the girl getting the guy a box of chocolate, an opposite practice to the American tradition of the guy showering the girl with gifts. The Japanese chocolate boxes are also not ordinary mixes of basic chocolate hearts or truffles, but are made up of uniquely shaped chocolates. These range from planets to bears to different fruits and they might be colored or airbrushed to give a special look or make them appear more like the object they are shaped after. A special addition to Valentine’s is also celebrated in Japan on March 14th. This day is referred to as White Day, and it is when the boy returns the favor to the girl who gave him a Valentine’s present. He has to give her white colored treats and they must be three times more expensive than what she got him. 

In England, Valentine’s is also celebrated a little differently than it is in the U.S. CCS junior, Brooklyn Smith, lived with her family as missionaries to England and she observed that while some Americans will do Galentines or other twists on Valentine’s celebrations, “in England, it’s just romantic, they don’t do things for their friends.” It is a much more couple-focused holiday and unlike some schools in the U.S, Brooklyn stated, “at schools, they don’t do the whole ‘you can buy things for your friends’ [ordeal].” There’s no candy grams or buying roses for your girls. Valentine’s in England is much more traditional and just for the lovey-dovey couples.

Another junior, Ana Chagas, who lived in Brazil for 6 years also noted that there, Valentine’s is also “only celebrated by couples.” She stated that, unlike elementary Valentine’s parties held in the U.S., “as kids [they] don’t bring candies to [share at] school.” Interestingly, in Brazil, “Valentine’s is [actually celebrated] in June” instead of Feburary. They also “don’t have candy hearts” but mostly give their loved ones chocolates.

Valentines is a very commercialized and widely celebrated holiday in America with many friendly traditions like Galentines and school celebrations. However, around the world, the holiday seems to be more focused on romantic love rather than platonic love.