For 25-year-old Tokyo office worker Ryoko Ejiri, Valentine's Day is about boxes of heart-shaped chocolates. She's not getting them from admirers, she has to buy them for her bosses.
"I'm spending more on chocolates this year than I've ever done in my life," said Ejiri, who stood in line for an hour at Isetan department store to buy the confections for her four managers. "I'm offering them gifts to show thanks."
On Valentine's Day in Japan, women also buy chocolates for male coworkers in a tradition called "giri choco," or "obligation chocolate." With Feb. 14 falling on a weekday for the first time in three years, analysts say that's a boon for candy makers like Meiji Holdings Ltd., Morinaga & Co. and Morozoff Ltd.