YumeTwins | February 2020 Theme – Cupid’s Gift

Lots of love to the Yumetwins family!

It’s that time of year when we walk around and see bright beautiful shades of red, purple, and especially pink! Do you know what we’re talking about? It’s February and Valentine’s Day preparation is all over the place! Many people are busy thinking about how to show their affection to their loved one. Heart shaped chocolates, roses, Valentine’s cards–these are all common around the world. What kinds of traditions are you looking forward to celebrating this month? We hope that however you spend your  holiday you’ll have a great time surrounded by love, family, and friends. This month, to celebrate, we’ve prepared a lovable gift to the YumeTwins family with our heartwarming Cupid’s Gift box!

Valentine’s Day in Japan

A Japanese Valentine’s Day is interesting in that it’s paired with a holiday exactly one month after called ‘White Day’. February 14th is step one, and March 14th is step two. First, girls generally do the giving on February 14th. Whereas boys generally give a gift in return to the girls that they received a gift from on March 14th. This may seem strange to many westerners, but there are parallels to this in Korea and China as well. In fact, in Korea there’s even a slightly amusing unofficial holiday called Black Day on April 14th which is when single people eat black foods as a way to show that they are single. In Japan though, just the first two festivities tend to be celebrated.

One of the unique points that can raise some eyebrows is the gender aspect that was mentioned above. In many countries, it doesn’t matter who gives a gift to whom. But in Japan, it’s generally expected that females will be the ones preparing gifts on Valentine’s Day instead of the boys. Additionally, many females will give gifts to not only their sweetheart, but any male who plays an outsize role in their lives. For example, this could be a friend, boss, brother, co-worker, etc. Some people may think that this is very unnecessary, while others don’t really mind the gesture (especially if they are keeping in  mind the return gifts on White Day!). But within all of these traditions lies an important point that we shouldn’t overlook: Valentine’s gifts in Japan don’t have to be about love. Rather, they can just serve to show appreciation to important people in your life, or to strengthen significant relationships.

It’s not necessary that anyone makes their chocolates or other goodies by hand. However, there are more than a few people who certainly enjoy doing this. Most chocolate brands come with special easy to make at home recipes on their packaging come mid-January, and stores are filled with cute miniature baking items to help make the best impression!

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Despite this unique way to celebrate Valentine’s Day in Japan, there are plenty of adults who opt for a quiet dinner or romantic date instead of the traditional chocolate gestures. What do you think about the way that this holiday is celebrated in Japan? Would you like to try making your own homemade chocolates sometime? At YumeTwins we believe it’s best to think of Valentine’s Day as a special occasion to share a gift from your heart with someone dear to you, whether it’s a friend, family member, sibling, boyfriend, or girlfriend. We hope that you will have a lovely celebration and that our February Cupid’s Gift box will help you to share your love!

YumeTwins is the gift that keeps on giving!

Do you know about the bonus perks that come with a YumeTwins subscription? Not only will you receive a box filled with kawaii goodies, but you always have a chance to win our YumePrize! Subscribe now to be automatically entered for a chance to win this awesome prize which includes a whole bundle of goodies worth over $500! Join the YumeTwins family this month to be entered to win February’s YumePrize, featuring Japan-exclusive and very cute items from Pokemon! Each prize item this month is centered around daily necessities, and we’re sure that you’ll be able to get lots of use out of your gifts each day!

For additional chances to win even MORE fun prizes, we encourage you to participate in January’s Photo Contest! Each month we select 1-2 Grand Prize winners & 5 runners-up who will get YumeTwins boxes and other kawaii prizes. This month you have a chance of winning exclusive prizes from Pokemon. You’ll find more information on how to enter the Photo Contest in the January booklet that comes with your box.

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