I made truffles.
That's a high level. Must take all day in the kitchen.
It took me two days. - Girl TWO DAYS
You say "you're not the one I love" but your heart says
the opposite.
That's what it's like in Japan!
Hey guys and girls on Ask Japanese it's Cathy Cat. Japanese
Valentine's day is coming up but it might be very different
compared to your country.
On Japanese Valentine's day, generally the girls
have to give a chocolate gift to the guys
and there are different types of chocolate
depending on what kind of status or relationship
you have with the guy. And recently girls
have also started giving those chocolates to other girls
as well.
So this time I am gonna go out and ask the Japanese girls if they
fear a certain pressure when Valentine's day comes up.
Especially as a girl. So let's go and ask Japanese.
Do Japanese girls have a lot of pressure on Valentine's day?
Oh yeah I feel pressure.
I feel like I HAVE to MAKE chocolate.
buying is not good.
People will think I failed as a woman if I did.
I need to make something, even if it's small.
You can buy something really nice...
but if you didn't make it, people will doubt your femininity
People will think you bought something because you suck at making it.
I hate that.
Wow that sucks.
Since you HAVE to make something, what do you make?
In elementary school I couldn't make difficult things...
I only melted chocolate on aluminium foil and gave it away.
Recently though I have to make "rare chocolate" desserts
or truffles. I made that last time.
Wow that's high level dessert making. You'd spend a whole day in the kitchen!
Two days actually. - TWO DAYS girl!!!
You spend a lot of effort on making things for Vday.
Well last year I.... I put the same effort into chocolate for friends and loved ones.
You spend two days on making sweets for your friends? - Yes.
I will make some for my friends...
... and then spend a bit more time ...
... on the ones I will give to boys.
I will present it a little differently, for boys.
Whatever is left over, sounds rude, but that's for my friends.
That's what I did last year. - Truffles and such.
Yes. - Do you MAKE things for Vday too? 2 days in the kitchen?
I make cookies.
You feel like you HAVE to make it? - Yeah, instead of buying.
At what age do girls have to start making chocolate desserts on Vday?
I started elementary school 4th grade.
How old were you then? - Let me see...
I was 10 or 11 years old.
I started in middle school.
I must have been around 13 years old.
Since then you have been making something every year? - YES
How do you feel when Vday is coming up every year?
Wherever you go, they will have chocolate shaped molds and so...
... I sight and feel like I have to make something again.
Not "let's make this yay!" more like "I HAVE to make this"? - Yes, I feel obliged to....
This face "Ah right I have to..."
It's a total bother.
Well abroad the boys
have to do something for the girls.
Abroad the pressure is on the men.
They have to come up with elaborate, expensive ideas for their partner.
What do you think about that? - It's the opposite of Japan?
I totally understand the boys' struggles!
We HAVE to give the boys something. They feel like they have to return something.
We are the other way round. I totally understand their pain!
The pressure of "Valentine is coming closer" is the same for us here.
Instead of "Yay!" it's more "Oh dear." - Yes.
Poor boys abroad.
You have the same struggles as I do.
Do you understand their feelings? - I do. Don't worry too much about it boys.
Any advice for foreign boys?
You don't have to overdo it.
Just show the girls your feeling.
You might think that but... maybe...
some girls abroad are used to getting spoiled on V day...
and expect something from their partners.
It seems to be common that girls get treated on Vday abroad.
They seem used to it.
However Japanese girls don't take it for granted to get something
because it's not common for us to get something.
We won't expect much on Vday.
Of course we love surprises...
But we do not have to get any surprises on Vday.
I think that's a big difference compared to abroad.
So YOU made a fondant au chocolate for your partner last year
What if your partner had just given you a bought chocolate item?
Well no pressure....
Making sweets is my hobby, it's a good occasion to make and give it away.
If I didn't like making sweets myself...
I probably would just have bought something too...
and given that instead...
If she doesn't like making sweets...
giving me anything is fine.
In your opinion girls don't HAVE to make something?
Hmmm... well I think so...
I keep wondering...
How do boys know if the chocolate they got is for friends or lovers?
Maybe it's in the way the girl gives us the chocolates.
Also girls tend to make
"friendship choco" into something that can be given to many people, like cookies
They make things that can be easily multiplied
And the chocolate for their loved one, will be wrapped as present...
And they might be shy when they hand it over to the boy they secretly like.
Their attitude might give it away.
As boys you have to try and figure out what type of chocolate you just got? - Yes.
Boys abroad seem to have a lot of pressure on V day...
when they give gifts to their partner on Vday.
Is there a pressure on girls in Japan on Vday?
We have to make something different from the year before...
People will be disappointed if I give the same things.
So I need to step up my game every year.
While I try to think what's even better... it suddenly is already Vday.
That sounds like it gets more and more expensive...
It does...
Do you feel pressure on Vday? - I totally don't.
Here have some simple friendship chocolate!
Do you feel pressure as girl on Vday?
Yes, if you have a boy you like, a boyfriend and such...
you get a lot of pressure on Vday.
But when there is no boy you care about...
Vday doesn't really matter to me.
So when you had a boyfriend, did you feel some pressure on Vday?
I felt like I had to MAKE something for him.
You MAKE things for him then?
Did you bake him something? - I did!
Do you have to make something cute or something like that?
I have to make something that TASTES good.
Boys secretly hope to get something hand made from their girlfriends...
So we have to give them something proper.
So the pressure is different girls and boys depending on the country...
In the USA the pressure seems to be on the men...
I heard from my followers...
There are 3 couples, and one boy in there gave an amazing gift...
And the girls of the other 2 couples were really jealous he spend so much...
and hoped for their partners to do something similarly big.
High expectations.
Would something like that happen in Japan?
I think it would.
So you want your boy to match up?
I would get jealous too, and would want that too.
Have you ever given "love" chocolate or just "friend" chocolate?
I have. - Both types you mean? - Yes!
I have given both types before. - Ok.
When you gave your loved one the "love" chocolate,
did you get a special reaction from him?
He went like "Oooh" as reaction.
Even though it was "love" chocolate because I liked him...
I lied and said it's just friendship chocolate because I am shy.
How cute, were you too flustered to say the truth?
I couldn't tell him the truth, that I loved him.
So I pretended it was just a friendship gift.
You're a bit of a Tsundere, hiding your feelings.
Your lips say "You are not my loved one" but your heart says something else...
That's how it was with me.
That's so cute.
Did you end up dating?
Did he notice your feelings in the end?
He never realized that I liked him.
Shame!
You should tell him this year you love him!
This year there isn't a boy I like.
At least right now.
When you gave your "love" chocolate
how did the boy react?
He said "Thanks". - Did he know he got the "love" type choco?
Probably no. Because I didn't say it clearly.
I've been wondering if boys can figure out if it's love chocolate or friendship.
So they just never realized the truth?
I am afraid so.
What a shame! You should have written on the sweets "LOVE"
"MY TRUE FEELING!" - Im too shy for that.
Those were all our questions! Thank you.
Often in Japanese Anime you find a Valentine Episode
where a girl maybe confesses her feelings
to the guy she likes by putting little chocolates
in his shoe locker or similar things like that and
those stories are really loved by anime fans
but as you can see, here from the Japanese people we interviewed today
there is a lot of pressure on the girls and
especially making it good and tasty and
the pressure seems to exist even more between girls than it seems to be
between girls and guys. We learned something new today.
So what is Valentine's day like in your country? Leave us
a comment down below so we can find out what traditions
you might have in your country when Vday comes up.
I hope you have a great day and I catch you soon for
more stuff on Ask Japanese. Don't forget, subscribe up here
and check out other videos that might be related to this stuff.
I catch you soon, bye!