Where the women woo their sweethearts with chocolates

THE Japanese are famous for their ability to copy an idea and then improve on it. The same is even true for Valentine's Day - if you are a man. In this ''men's paradise'', as Japan is chauvinistically called, February 14 has become the day when women - not men - pander even more than usual to their sweethearts with chocolates and romantic greetings. No one need feel left out just because they do not have a girlfriend who will spoil them. Wives lavish chocolates on husbands and sons alike. Tokyo housewife, Mrs Miho Osawa, 37, is typical: ''My 11-year-old son is looking forward to Valentine's Day more than anyone else because he gets chocolates from his girlfriends and grandmother every year.'' Legions of Office Ladies (''Japlish'' for female office staff) present their bosses with small boxes of giri choco (literally, ''obligation chocolate''), without a passionate thought. It is hardly surprising this peculiarly Japanese subversion of a western tradition is a marketing ploy by Japan's chocolate manufacturers. They have exploited the deep Japanese sense of respect for seniors and moral indebtedness to the point where US$469million (HK$3.65 billion) - 10 per cent of their annual sales - is generated in the two weeks leading up to Valentine's Day. With virtually the entire female population buying chocolates, it is a highly unpopular boss who receives nothing. ''My married office superiors are worried about not getting anything for Valentine's Day because if they don't, they'll be laughed at by the wife and kids,'' said one young Tokyo ''salaryman''. ''So they are thinking about buying some chocolates themselves and pretending to the family they are gifts,'' he said. The harsh reality of recession and the fact that February 14 falls on a Sunday this year may provide an excuse for returning empty-handed from the office. Ms Chikako Ueda, a 26-year-old working in a university administrator's office, said she would definitely be spending less than last year's average of US$40 on office colleagues. ''The number of chocolates I give my superiors from a sense of obligation, and the amount I spend on them will decrease because Valentine's Day is on Sunday this year and I won't be seeing them on the day.'' But romance is not entirely dead. There is another tailor-made category of chocolate at this time of year, in addition to giri choco. Honmei choco is intended for the special man in a Japanese woman's life. The word means ''favourite'', and true love can conquer all, including a recession. ''I don't think I'll spend a lot less on him than last year, and as always, I'll give him something for everyday use,'' Miss Ueda said. Sweaters, cigarette lighters, ties and boxer shorts remain the most popular Valentine's gifts after chocolate, although Japanese ingenuity knows no bounds. Last year's big seller was a ''modern love potion'' - a CD with the subliminal message ''Love me more and more'' repeated 5,000 times in 15 minutes just outside the audible range of human hearing. This year it is more fashionable to record your own love message on a CD which comes complete with a photograph of the sender on the ''album cover''. There is also a special brand of Valentine's rice on the market, designed to boost the fortunes and morale of Japan's rice farmers who are bitterly opposed to ending the country's ban on imported rice. Hitomebore - ''Love at First Sight'' - rice costs US$2.30 for 200 grams, and carries the inscription ''Please take this before my love fades''. It comes with a packet of dried, ground seasoning which has been blessed by a Shinto priest to help the women who give it away win the heart of the recipients. If all this sounds too good to be true from the male point of view, there is a degree of reciprocity here. Twenty years ago the Japanese invented White Day - March 14 - when men were supposed to return the compliment by buying their wives and girlfriendswhite roses and white chocolates and even white panties. In 1985 the Japanese lingerie manufacturers association decided to cash in on White Day and has been energetically promoting panties as the perfect gift ever since. Wacoal, the biggest Japanese lingerie firm, expected to sell about 400,000 pairs alone last week. That idea has been so successful that now the 72-member Nihon Body Fashion Association has come up with Men's Valentine's Day on September 14, in an effort to boost sales of pink underwear. Despite the intensive marketing, the Japanese woman who is hoping to be treated to romantic dinners, red or white roses, and of course, a night at a lavish ''love hotel'', may be deluding herself. A special Valentine's Day survey, conducted by Harlequin Enterprises of Toronto, has exposed Japanese men as the least romantic in the world after the Poles. Greeks topped the list, followed by Australians and New Zealanders. Japanese women rated their men by far the least sexy, and were the least likely to call their partners ''charming''. Japanese men were also the least likely to know their partner's favourite flower, perfume, or lingerie size, and only 19 per cent had ever prepared a candlelit dinner for two. Hardly surprising then that 76 per cent of Japanese women said they considered romance to be more fantasy than reality.