The day of February 14 is observed in many nations, however local customs might vary greatly.
Valentine’s Day, which honours a Christian saint, is now observed in many nations, but local customs can vary greatly and occasionally have nothing to do with romance.
While in Europe, Valentine’s Day is all about couples honouring their union, it’s more about schoolchildren commemorating friendships in the United States, and it’s all about giving chocolate to your employer in Japan.
The history of the annual February 14 celebration is obscure, but it is well known that the day honours Roman Christian martyr Saint Valentine, who lived in the third century AD.
He was allegedly killed on the orders of Emperor Claudius II for covertly officiating weddings. He literally lost his head over love. The story goes that Valentine healed his jailer’s blind daughter and gave her a note addressed to “Your Valentine” the day before he passed away.
With the development of the postal service in the 19th century, the custom of exchanging communications on February 14 known as “Valentines” evolved in England, with the sender frequently signing off with “Your Valentine.”
With the development of mass-produced greeting cards in the US in the middle of the 19th century, the holiday took on a more commercial focus. Promoters adopted the concept immediately to expand the “custom” beyond lovers, with pupils frequently required to deliver a Valentine card for each of their peers.
It is now a $20 billion company.
After World War II, chocolate manufacturers came up with the concept of having women give chocolates to their partners and bosses on February 14 to start the Japanese Valentine tradition.
After fifty years, millions of Japanese women still perform the custom every year as a way to express their love, friendship, or professional esteem.
But in other places, the holiday, which is a relatively recent import from the West, frequently runs afoul of traditionalist cultural forces as well as anti-capitalist attitudes.
