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CNN Live At Daybreak

Valentine's Day: Japanese Style

Aired February 12, 2004 - 06:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Ahh, Valentine's Day, that special day when you honor that special someone. Usually men honor women, right? We don't give men presents. Well, not in Japan, where turnabout is not only fair play, it is the order of the day.
Live on the phone from Tokyo is CNN's Atika Shubert -- good morning, Atika.

Actually, you're live with us and we appreciate that.

Valentine's Day was actually imported to Japan.

How did that happen?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We actually tracked it down to a handful of chocolate companies. And we specifically found the man behind what we've been calling around the office the Valentine's Day conspiracy. And that's the president of Mary's Chocolate Company, a Mr. Kunyahara (ph). And he actually brought it over because he'd heard about it from a friend in France, but he didn't actually know what Valentine's Day was.

So he decided to create his own tradition. And he told us he was actually inspired by Ingrid Bergman in the movie "For Whom The Bell Tolls," by her forthright character. And he told us that he wanted Japanese women to be a bit more assertive about how they feel. And he created Valentine's Day to be the day for women to show their emotions and by sending chocolates to men.

COSTELLO: But only the women send the chocolates. Why not the men, too?

SHUBERT: That's right. He decided that it was really women that needed the encouragement. The way he told it to us was that he felt that there were too many men already declaring their emotions on the streets of Tokyo and that women really needed more encouragement. So he created this day especially for them.

COSTELLO: Well, the weird thing about this is you're not only supposed to show your appreciation to your husband or boyfriend, but to your bosses, your male neighbors, any male that you happen to run into.

SHUBERT: That's right. In fact, it's created a whole culture here of calling it obligation chocolates, not just to your husband or boyfriend, but also your boss or your clients, any male colleagues. And that's really a factor of the Japanese gift giving culture. A lot of women that we spoke to on the street said they didn't want other men to feel left out just because they singled out one man as the man they wanted to give their affection to. So they also gave chocolates to their bosses.

COSTELLO: Japanese women are a lot nicer than American women. So, how many chocolates are sold in Japan on Valentine's Day?

SHUBERT: Oh, well, I think the last figure we have for two -- for 2003 was 530 billion yen worth. So it's a lot of chocolates being sold. And, in fact, for Mary's Chocolate Company we talked to, they said 30 percent of their chocolates sold in a year are just for Valentine's Day. So it was a lot of fun doing this story, because we got to go to chocolate companies and actually try some of those chocolates.

COSTELLO: Oh, now the truth comes out.

Atika Shubert live from Tokyo this morning.

We appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 12, 2004 - 06:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Ahh, Valentine's Day, that special day when you honor that special someone. Usually men honor women, right? We don't give men presents. Well, not in Japan, where turnabout is not only fair play, it is the order of the day.
Live on the phone from Tokyo is CNN's Atika Shubert -- good morning, Atika.

Actually, you're live with us and we appreciate that.

Valentine's Day was actually imported to Japan.

How did that happen?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We actually tracked it down to a handful of chocolate companies. And we specifically found the man behind what we've been calling around the office the Valentine's Day conspiracy. And that's the president of Mary's Chocolate Company, a Mr. Kunyahara (ph). And he actually brought it over because he'd heard about it from a friend in France, but he didn't actually know what Valentine's Day was.

So he decided to create his own tradition. And he told us he was actually inspired by Ingrid Bergman in the movie "For Whom The Bell Tolls," by her forthright character. And he told us that he wanted Japanese women to be a bit more assertive about how they feel. And he created Valentine's Day to be the day for women to show their emotions and by sending chocolates to men.

COSTELLO: But only the women send the chocolates. Why not the men, too?

SHUBERT: That's right. He decided that it was really women that needed the encouragement. The way he told it to us was that he felt that there were too many men already declaring their emotions on the streets of Tokyo and that women really needed more encouragement. So he created this day especially for them.

COSTELLO: Well, the weird thing about this is you're not only supposed to show your appreciation to your husband or boyfriend, but to your bosses, your male neighbors, any male that you happen to run into.

SHUBERT: That's right. In fact, it's created a whole culture here of calling it obligation chocolates, not just to your husband or boyfriend, but also your boss or your clients, any male colleagues. And that's really a factor of the Japanese gift giving culture. A lot of women that we spoke to on the street said they didn't want other men to feel left out just because they singled out one man as the man they wanted to give their affection to. So they also gave chocolates to their bosses.

COSTELLO: Japanese women are a lot nicer than American women. So, how many chocolates are sold in Japan on Valentine's Day?

SHUBERT: Oh, well, I think the last figure we have for two -- for 2003 was 530 billion yen worth. So it's a lot of chocolates being sold. And, in fact, for Mary's Chocolate Company we talked to, they said 30 percent of their chocolates sold in a year are just for Valentine's Day. So it was a lot of fun doing this story, because we got to go to chocolate companies and actually try some of those chocolates.

COSTELLO: Oh, now the truth comes out.

Atika Shubert live from Tokyo this morning.

We appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com