Valentine's Day has long outgrown its Christian origins to be adopted across countries the world over. From Japan, where only women give chocolates on February 14th before men return the favour on "White Day", to Finland, where carrying your sweetheart on your back can win you her weight in beer, to countries where the celebration remains banned outright — this secularisation and globalisation has given rise to local traditions as varied as they are surprising. Here's a quick tour.
In Asia, very precise codes
In Japan
Valentine's Day has only been celebrated here since the 1950s, introduced by chocolate manufacturers. Since then, only women give chocolates to men on February 14th to express their love — they also give them to friends, colleagues, and even bosses. In return, "White Day", celebrated on March 14th, gives men the chance to offer their beloved something white: white chocolate, jewellery, or lingerie, supposedly worth three times the value of the gift they received. No gift at all can be read as love gone cold, or love that was never returned.
In South Korea
Valentine's Day is celebrated much the same way as in Japan. A month later, on April 14th, comes "Black Day": singles who received nothing in February or March gather to eat black noodles together — a way of taking the sting out of being single.
In Singapore
Single women hoping to find a husband write a few words of love on mandarin oranges, then toss them into a river.
In China
Since the 1980s, Valentine's Day has grown increasingly popular, especially among younger generations. Older generations instead honour Qi Qiao Jie, a traditional feast of lovers rooted in an ancient legend, celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar: one gives the beloved an object to keep close — a silk handkerchief, a locket, a belt.
In the Middle East, between celebration and ban
In Iran, Valentine's Day is seen as a festival for expressing love toward loved ones — mothers and wives especially — and echoes, in ancient Persian culture, an earth celebration called Sepandarmazgan or Esfandegan. In Saudi Arabia, by contrast, it is simply banned, deemed too Christian and pagan. In Kuwait and Pakistan, conservative Islamist groups also seek to ban it in favour of a "decency day", arguing that Valentine's Day encourages sin.
In Europe, very local traditions
In the Nordic countries, men write a message to the woman they fancy but don't sign their name — instead they draw small dots corresponding to the number of letters in it. If the recipient guesses who wrote to her, she receives... an Easter egg. In Scotland, tradition holds that the first person of the opposite sex you meet by chance becomes your Valentine for the day — nothing forces you to accept, but it's gladly read as a sign of fate, without committing anyone to anything beyond this symbolic game.
In Wales, lovers are celebrated on January 25th and exchange carved wooden spoons decorated with padlocks, hearts, or keys. In Austria, couples — whether simply dating, engaged, or married for years — parade through the streets dressed identically, hand in hand. In Catalonia, Sant Jordi is celebrated on April 23rd: men give a rose to the women they love, women give a book to their sweethearts, all around great banquets. In France, Italy, Tunisia, and several African countries that have adopted the feast, couples exchange flowers, chocolate, or jewellery, and women happily wear red — the colour of passion — for their romantic dinner.
Across the Americas
In Brazil, no one speaks of Valentine's Day but of dia dos namorados (lovers' day), celebrated not on February 14th but on June 12th: the lover gives his partner an object symbolising his eternal love, and she promises in return to be his for life. In Colombia, Dia del Amor is celebrated on the third Saturday of September, an occasion to celebrate friendship too, through gifts and a shared dinner. In the United States, finally, the date remains hugely important but isn't reserved for lovers alone: love is celebrated in the broadest sense, toward everyone who matters to us.
Beyond its commercial side, now almost taken for granted, Valentine's Day reflects, in forms that vary widely across cultures, the very best in us: our capacity to love. To discover its ancient and Christian origins, head over to our brief history of Valentine's Day.
