New Year's Day is a holiday for everyone except the postal workers. Unlike western countries, where Christmas cards should arrive before Christmas Day, New Year's cards (nengajou) should arrive on New Year's Day. As the cards trickle in, the post office sorts and stores them all by address. Then on New Year's Day, with the help of temporary workers, they deliver all your cards at once.
Although post cards (yubin hagaki) can be purchased from the stationers, most people buy them in bulk from the post office . A special stamp and greeting are printed on the back and also lottery numbers. No one explained to me that the post office cards can have lottery numbers on them. I could be holding a winning number and not know it.
On one side of a Japanese post card you write the name and address of the recipient in large letter and your own in smaller letters. On the other side, you write your message.
As the head English teacher, Murakami-sensei printed her greetings in English. She also writes in a personal message by hand. She sent this card in the year of the horse (1990 and 2002).
The back of a New Year's Card with the addresses of sender and receiver. To make it easy on the postal workers, Murakami-sensei writes my name and address in Japanese. She writes her return address in English, out of consideration for me, perhaps thinking I otherwise will not know who it is from.
Most people take their cards to a printshop to have the message printed up. More and more people are using their word processor or computers to do it. Very few people still handwrite a message, or if they do, they use a pen and not a brush.
This is one of the few hand-brushed cards I received, not surprisingly from Okamoto-sense, the calligraphy teacher. She also hand-stamped the large red character, hitsuji, meaning "the year of the sheep" (1991 and 2003).
More on New Year customs in Japan
Send your own New Year's card online thanks to Kanji-step
The Japan Times Online explains everything you wanted to know about 0-Shogatsu
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
January 01, 2002
Comments
Hello, I wish you a happy good wish in this 2003 News year`s Day, and many happiness, in life. !! hope you are doing well, I wish you can come visit in my swiss one day.!! find freedon, and hopefully all ..ok. write you more next time.!! and hope to hear from you.!!
Comment by: tree Lee. Posted December 19, 2002 08:01 AM.
hi there wish u a happy happy new year nirmal
Comment by: himanshu. Posted December 30, 2002 02:28 AM.
Share Your Thoughts
Happy Year of the Horse, everyone!