Children's Day
Children's Day is a holiday in many countries around the world.
Japan
Childeren's day (こどもの日, Kodomo no hi) is one of the holidays in Japan. It is May 5th. We celebrate our childeren's growth on that day. several years ago, it was called as "Tangonosekku"(端午の節句) and it was a festival for boys. But in 1948, the meaning of the festival changed, and it got as a holiday for wishing childeren's happiness and welfare. It is said that it has the same meaning(purpose) as (this is the same holiday as) May 1st in the U.S., and The first monday in March in England, and November 14th in India.
Germany
During the cold war, the Children's Day (Kindertag) was handled quite differently in the two states. So, the date was different (GDR: Juni 1st, FRG: September, 20th), the name was slightly different (GDR: "International Children's Day" ("internationaler Kindertag"), FRG: "World Children's Day" ("Weltkindertag")), and most notably: the customs were different.
In the GDR, the holiday was intruduced in 1950, and was from then on a yearly highlight for the children. On this day of the year, one typically received congratulations and presents from one's parents, did special activities in school, such as field trips and the like. In the FRG, Children's day did not have such meaning to the children, and was even mostly unknown to many people.
Since the affiliation in 1990, the date and name used in the FRG have become the official ones for the former GDR as well. This however was not accepted by large parts of the former GDR population, so that still many parents celebrate with their kids on the former date, June 1st, and even Child's Day public events take place on the old date.