Japanese Women Getting Sweet Revenge for Valentine’s Day
TOKYO — Japanese business has a knack for commercializing Western holidays beyond American retailers’ wildest dreams--and Valentine’s Day is no exception.
The traditional lovers’ holiday is a commercial bonanza here, although it has long been strictly a one-way street, tailored to fulfill any male chocolate-lover’s fantasy. On Feb. 14, women present boyfriends, husbands and male bosses and co-workers with chocolate from the swankiest department stores. Women who may be waiting for a truffle from their beloved can forget it.
But things are changing, and for Tokyo’s twentysomething women, Valentine’s Day is not just for men anymore. They have a new--and profitable--tradition of their own, thanks to one of Japan’s trendiest department stores, Shibuya Parco. It is the “Valentine’s Day Love Liquidation Sale.”
The idea is this: Japanese men, better at expressing their love with the wallet than with words, lavish their girlfriends with expensive, name-brand gifts. When the relationship ends, women are left with piles of loot that remind them of a man they want to forget. Thanks to Parco, today’s savvy young women can cash them in.
“It’s a way of putting a final period on your relationship,” says Tomoko Ishihara, 26, the Parco employee who came up with the idea. “You can sell the gifts he gave you and put the past behind you.”
And earn some money to boot! Since the beginning of February, women have trooped into the store bearing armloads of plunder--Ralph Lauren perfume, Cartier rings, Louis Vuitton bags, even a wedding dress--to sell on consignment. Parco stipulates only that items sell for less than $100 and be the spoils of a relationship that is now over. Women set the prices themselves, and Parco gets $1 for every piece sold.
The women fill out a form, listing their object, stating the sale price and giving the reason they are getting rid of it. “It was half of a pair,” wrote a woman selling a watch.
“When I wore it, my old boyfriend told me I looked beautiful,” wrote another, who brought in a sexy silk dress.
“I just want to get rid of them,” said 25-year-old Shirasaka Chikako, who came to sell a pair of saucy high-heeled shoes she received from last year’s boyfriend. “It’s over.”
To exorcise the goods of the women’s past, Parco brings in a Shinto priest who whisks sacred branches over them before they are sold.
Although the sale was first held three years ago, the turnout this year dwarfed that of former years. By Tuesday evening, Ishihara estimated that close to 3,000 people had already attended the sale, buying a hefty portion of the 2,297 love-reject items that packed racks and shelves.
New articles were still dribbling in late Tuesday night. The sale runs through noon today. Unsold items will be returned--exorcised--to the owners.
Over the weekend, young women waited for hours in a line that extended down two floors of the store, trying to elbow their way into the small corner boutique to grab the cheap luxury goods.
Ninety percent of the shoppers at this event are women. Many leave their boyfriends or husbands outside and come in alone.
“I think a lot of the men don’t want to come in,” says Ishihara. “They are afraid they might see their own past gifts on the shelves.”
“Those poor guys,” said one television newscaster as images from the Parco sale flashed across the screen.
When asked how the men must feel, Ishihara shrugged. “Guys these days are sweet. Maybe it does hurt their feelings. But women are stronger now. It’s not cool to be looking back.”
