chocolate refugees tweet

Valentine’s Day. It may well be little more than an excuse for chocolate manufacturers to line their pockets, but its popularity in Japan seemingly knows no bounds. For those men in relationships, the day is usually one filled with gifts of fondue toilets and creepy girlfriend-shaped chocolates, but for the singletons out there it’s just another day to feel unappreciated.

But not these young men! Rather than spend February 14 without a little somethin’ sweet, they donned sunglasses and face masks and descended on Tokyo’s Machida station asking for chocolate donations from passers-by. And, would you believe it, they were actually kind of a hit with the ladies.

“I just saw these guys at Machida station!” said one Twitter user, “They really want chocolate! Haha”

Holding hand-written signs reading such things as “Please give us chocolate!”small groups of men could be seen in and around the station asking for sweet donations. And judging by the amount in their hands, they were doing pretty well, too!

Similar groups of choko nanmin, or “choco refugees” were spotted last year in Nagoya station. Perhaps spurred on by the surprisingly warm reception they received, these jokers tried their luck in Tokyo. Word of their presence quickly spread online where hundreds of Twitter users cheered them on.

chocolate refugees

Here are some typical reactions from Japan’s heart-warmed Netizens:

“What the!? This is so cute!”

“So sweet. I’ll give you some chocolate, guys!”

“Bless ‘em. I’m heading to the station right now!”

“Awww. I want to give them some.”

Not everyone online was quite so touched, however. One Twitter user felt that the guys’ behaviour was altogether too desperate, and had these words of advice:

“This is kind of embarrassing! Give it up, guys.”

As well as these young men did, something tells us that we won’t be seeing rows of girls asking men for chocolate come White Day on March 14…

Source: 秒刊 Sunday

Top image via @Morimari0516