Japanese woman 'strangles husband' over missing gift

A 43-year-old Japanese woman who allegedly tried to strangle her husband because he did not give her a present in return for a Valentine's day gift was being quizzed by police on Monday.

Japanese men are supposed to offer presents to their partner on March 14, known as White Day, in return for the chocolates and other goodies they received on February 14, Valentine's Day.

But after apparently being spurned by her 31-year-old husband, Mie Nishiyama allegedly tried to throttle him with a necktie.

Nishiyama, who was arrested at her home in the western city of Sakai shortly after midnight following an emergency call from her husband, told police she suspected he was having an affair.

"And he did not give me a gift in return for Valentine's Day. I was angry and strangled him," she was quoted by police as saying.

She said she had not intended to kill her husband, a police official told AFP, but she had nonetheless been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The Western custom of Valentine's Day was modified when it arrived in Japan to become a one-way street in which women do the giving, presenting chocolates to many of the men in their life -- colleagues, bosses and partners.

Keen marketers established White Day as an opportunity for men to return the gift, lavishing everything from cookies to jewellery on their loved one.