Maybe you've chosen not to notice that Sunday was the day of heart-shaped chocolates and blushing confessions of love. If so, you're in good company: According to weekly magazine "Spa!," the domestic Valentine market has been 盛り下がっている (morisagatteiru, on the decline) for the past few years, with many companies actually banning the custom of 義理チョコ (giri-choko, obligatory chocolates) among their employees.

That may have come as good news for women who had to shell out an average ¥536 (according to "Spa!") on those chocolates — a real 手痛い出費 (teitai shuppi, painful expense) for those of us who aren't exactly enthralled by the 男性社員 (danseishain, male colleagues) and 上司 (jōshi, bosses) in the workplace. ちなみに (chinami ni, by the way), "Spa!" says that while Valentine's is going out of style, Halloween is on the rise. Either way, the 製菓会社 (seikagaisha, confectionery companies) aren't bleeding over this — what they lose over February can be retrieved in October.

My personal feeling is that love itself is on the decline, and that no one really cares. Japanese men are notorious for their lack of interest in love and sex, and Japanese women are famed for their deep, dark disappointment in said men. Last year the Fuji TV program "Tokudane" surveyed 3,000 Japanese males between the ages of 16 and 49, and over a third of the youngest segment declared that they were 嫌悪している (ken'o shiteiru, turned off by) or 興味ない (kyōmi nai, had no interest) in sex and relationships. Apparently the 草食男子 (sōshoku danshi, "herbivorous boys"), who waited around for women to rip off their clothes, were no longer around, having been replaced by the 絶食男子 (zesshoku danshi, "fasting boys"), who didn't need to eat at all. (The term was coined by the same program.)