The origins of Mother's Day: A global holiday born from gratitude

The second Sunday of May is known as "Mother's Day" in Japan, a special day to express daily gratitude to mothers. There are various ways to celebrate Mother's Day, such as giving carnations, writing letters, and sharing housework. However, even this Mother's Day that we celebrate as a matter of course has a deep history and feelings.

America is the birthplace
The origins of modern Mother's Day date back to the early 20th century in the United States. The driving force behind this was a woman named Anna Jarvis. After the death of her mother, Ann Jarvis, who devoted herself to providing medical care to wounded soldiers and peacekeeping activities during the Civil War, she began to think, "I want to establish a day to express my gratitude to mothers."

In 1908, the first "Mother's Day" ceremony was held in West Virginia, and Anna's movement quickly spread across the U.S. In 1914, the second Sunday in May was officially designated as "Mother's Day" by then-President Woodrow Wilson.

Why carnations?
Anna Jarvis gave white carnations to her late mother in memory of her mother. Carnations are also a symbol of maternal love in Christian culture, and this is why they became popular as the "Mother's Day flower." Today, the custom of giving red carnations to living mothers and white carnations to deceased mothers remains (red carnations are more common in Japan).

Spread to Japan
In Japan, "Mother's Day" was introduced through Christian organizations in the early Showa period, and became popular along with the "Mother's Day Sales Campaign" during the period of high economic growth after the war. Today, it has become firmly established as a family event, and is a day that is cherished by people of all generations.


Finally, Mother's Day is not just an event, but a day to express the simple and warm feeling of "thank you." Whether it's a gift or words, it's the thought itself that's most important. How will you express your gratitude on Mother's Day this year?



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