In Australia, Mother’s Day is on the second Sunday of May, the same as Japan. Father’s Day is on the third Sunday of June in Japan, but in Australia it’s on a different day, the first Sunday of September. But both are held on the same day of the week, Sunday, and they are both days intended for expressing our feelings of gratitude to our mothers and fathers, which is the same throughout the world.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Mother’s Day in Japan is carnations. In the lead up to Mother’s Day in Japan they sell carnations everywhere around town and you see images of carnation in ads and so on. But I have never seen people giving carnations for Mother’s Day in Australia. Even on the websites and flower shops that deliver flowers on Mother’s Day you mainly see roses, gerberas, lilies, and other fall flowers with Mother’s Day bouquets highlighting reds, pinks, purples, and so on for a feminine look, but virtually no shop has Mother’s Day bunches with carnations only. I thought that maybe giving carnations was something that happened only in Japan. When did the custom of giving carnations on Mother’s Day start and why did the custom of making carnations the main flower type become popular?

Mother’s Day started in the US in 1910 and was officially established as “Mother’s Day” in 1914. White carnations became known as a symbol of Mother’s Day because they were given out to attendees of a memorial for a mother who had cared for soldiers injured during the Civil War, and she liked carnations. Australia is a British immigrant country, so it is mostly influenced by Britain, which may be why the American symbol of Mother’s Day, the carnation, did not take hold so strongly in Australia.

Father’s Day also originated in the US and is observed on the third Sunday of June in many countries including Japan and the UK. So, I wondered why is it observed in September only in Australia (and New Zealand), even though Australia is influenced by the UK and it is on the same day in the US and the UK? I looked into it and found that in Australia there are a series of events, starting with Easter holidays in March or early April, then the Anzac Day holiday on April 25, and the Labour Day holiday in early May, as well as Mother’s Day (although not a holiday), which means that rather than observing Father’s Day in June, leaving it for a time until September would be better for the purposes of economic efficiency, and September is also a time that offers a wide variety of other attractions: September in Australia is in early spring, which is a good season to go fishing, play sport, or get outdoors, and it is a time of the year that’s more conducive than winter to ideas for presents. Well, that’s about the sum of the reasons that I came up with. Ask an Australian, but no one knows about it. Maybe it’s because women are stronger in Australia, a country that observes “ladies first,” and the date for Father’s Day just ended up being set on whatever day that suited. Or it may be because it is better to celebrate them in different seasons. Mother’s Day is in early fall and Father’s Day is in early spring.

As for the way people celebrate Father’s Day and Mother’s Day in Australia, well there’s not much difference from Japan. There’s gift giving, going to lunch or dinner at a restaurant, congratulations, barbecues, little kids giving hand-made presents, and giving flowers. Cards saying “Happy Mother’s Day” or “Happy Father’s Day” are available at supermarkets, bookstores, department stores, and so on.

Here on the Gold Coast, the popular restaurants get more bookings than on usual Sundays. And of course, even on Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, you can see people indulging in that favorite Australian pastime, the barbecue at beaches and parks.