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Tokyo offers chocolate massages, jewelry

Japanese women who crave chocolate, but want to avoid its calories, are discovering they don't have to put it in their mouths to enjoy it. This Valentine's Day they can slather it on their bodies or wear it instead.

Women in Japan are expected to give chocolate to boyfriends and husbands for Valentine's Day, with the men reciprocating a month later, but this year it seems that some Japanese women are ditching tradition and pampering themselves.

At the upscale Tokyo Prince Hotel, women are being offered an overnight package that includes a 75-minute chocolate massage.

"We are hoping that women have these chocolate massages before they see their boyfriends or husbands so that they can smell nice when they profess their love," said Nana Ohtsuka, a marketing officer for the hotel.

But she added that the hotel is also targeting the package, which costs up to ?50,000 (US$455), at Japan's growing ranks of single and financially secure women.

"An increasing number of women in their 20s and 30s want to reward themselves. They want to spend money on themselves on Valentine's Day," she said.

The hotel is promoting cocoa as good for the skin, hoping to soothe fears that a love of chocolate leads to an expanding waistline by using it in less conventional ways.

The presence in chocolate of the feel-good chemicals serotonin and phenethylamine, mild sexual stimulants, have lent support to the romantic lore that chocolate is an aphrodisiac. Giving and receiving chocolate has become an inextricable part of the modern courtship ritual.

At the Prince, press officer Yuri Nakaone says that for women who don't want to forgo chocolate but fear gaining weight from over-indulgence, having a massage with a rich paste made of pure cocoa powder is the perfect alternative.

Add to that an almond-butter rub down and a hot body wrap to encourage perspiration, and the masseuse says "you are eliminating toxins and fatty elements from your body."

Apart from experiencing chocolate on the skin, women can also show their chocolate mania as an original fashion statement.

Department store Takashimaya is offering a limited number of tiaras with diamond-shaped figures made to resemble chocolate.

Unfortunately, the tiara cannot be eaten as the chocolate figures include plastic. And the price -- at ?71,400 -- may be equally difficult to digest.

Takahiro Tonami, who sells the tiaras at his Q-Pot shop, insisted the trinkets were value for money.

His shop includes everything from rings and necklaces to straps for mobile phones that look like chocolate for more modest prices that go up to ?4,200 apiece.

"Women love jewelry and sweet things, so this is a perfect gift to give to yourself or to your female friends," Tonami said. "Plus, the Japanese are well-known around the world for replicating types of food. So why not carry that out to its maximum?" he asked.

Tonami said he hoped chocolate would become fashionable for Japanese women.

"We would love for mature women to wear it alongside their diamond rings or Hermes handbags as a unique fashion statement. They should tickle the adult woman's sense of fun," he said.

But Yuki Yamaguchi, 30, shopping for chocolate at Takashimaya, was unsure whether she could wear a chunky ring that looked like something she had just picked out of a box of chocolates.

"I think it would be a funny joke to give it to my friends, but I'd have to think twice before wearing it on the subway or on the street," she said.
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