万花筒2008-02-17:Bizarre Valentine's Day gifts

Forget the candy, jewelry¹ or romantic weekend in the country. In Japan, Valentine's Day gifts that are a little yucky, are all the rage²

Ah! Valentine’s Day, flowers, diamonds and bugs³. Maeko Miola can't contain/ the giggles⁴ thinking about giving her husband this, these confectionary critters are all chocolate, shaped into / bugs and worms. It's the hot item in Japan for Valentine’s Day, these buyers traveled an hour just to buy the bugs because everywhere else were sold out. 

“I want to surprise my boyfriend with something unusual.” Says Haruka Azuma. “Unusual is what drives Valentine’s Day sales in Japan.” says FCON, the makers⁵ of this chocolate. No fruits, no both. 

“So it looks like a strawberry, but there's chocolate inside.” “Yes. We sucked out the air by vacuuming. Then we pushed the chocolate in. First time eating banana like this, right?” 

What may explain all this is that in Japan Valentine’s Day is a day when women buy gifts for men. So that may explain why those gifts that are kind of strange and a little creepy, are so appealing. But is this what men really want? Yoshihiro Tsukihashi says he’ll pass on the creepy chocolate. “I think it’s horrible.” He says. “I'd be scared to get this.” He warned his girlfriend. A few hours later, the store shelves said empty, the goods / bought up by devilish wives and girlfriends. 

So maybe in Japan, women don’t receive Valentines. But these ladies will tell you. “The pleasure really is in the giving”. 

Kyung Lah, CNN, Tokyo.

1 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

2 rage   

vi.(烈火)熊熊燃烧；发怒；怒斥；季风

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• Haines got into a rage.海恩斯勃然大怒。

3 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 giggles   

n.咯咯的笑( giggle的名词复数 )；傻笑；玩笑；the giggles 止不住的格格笑v.咯咯地笑( giggle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Her nervous giggles annoyed me. 她神经质的傻笑把我惹火了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I had to rush to the loo to avoid an attack of hysterical giggles. 我不得不冲向卫生间，以免遭到别人的疯狂嘲笑。 来自辞典例句

5 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》