In Japan, it is customary to send out New Year’s cards, or ‘nengajou’. While in the West, traditional Christmas and New Year’s cards are gradually being replaced by electronic versions and e-mails, in Japan cards are still being sent through the mail (which I quite like).
New Year’s cards are big business in Japan. Every year, millions of cards make their way into mailboxes all over Japan. It is not uncommon for one household to receive up to 200 cards. Traditionally you are supposed to send a card to everyone you have some sort of relationship with or social obligation to. That includes all of your coworkers, for example. But these days not all youngsters comply with this rule.
The postal service is of course well aware of this massive card sending habit and organises its service accordingly. All the cards posted before December 26th are guaranteed to be delivered on the 1st of January. That’s right. Not on the 31st, not on the 2nd. No, when the Japanese provide a service, they mean business. Postal workers work on the national holiday to ensure that everyone receives their cards on the 1st.
Every year I gladly join in this Japanese New Year’s card extravaganza. Having lived in Japan for a year, I met many people who really did their best to make me feel welcome and who were very generous towards me. Sending New Year’s cards to my Japanese friends seems like the perfect way to show them that they remain in my thoughts and that I am grateful for everything they have done for me.
At first, writing New Year’s cards in Japanese and figuring out the correct way to post them seemed like a daunting task. Once I finally figured everything out, I decided to write a guide for other people who might like to send cards to Japan as well.
Sending New Year’s cards to Japan: a guide
Make sure to send the card well in advance. It should arrive in Japan before the 26th of December. Another important point to note is that according to Japanese custom, you shouldn’t send a card to someone who has lost a loved one in the past year. But don’t worry if you are not sure about the addressee’s family situation. According to a helpful comment by Ayako Mathies, the original custom is that it is alright so send a card to families who have lost someone, but these families are not expected to send out cards or replies themselves.
Choosing the card
Since it will be difficult to find the typical Japanese New Year’s cards abroad, I recommend sending a card that is typical of your home country. For example, being from Belgium, I opted for cards with Christmas trees or cute little shops covered in snow. I tried to choose cards that invoke the romantic European winter feeling.
Writing the message
If the addressee speaks English or is familiar with foreign cultures, you may of course write whatever you like. If you are going for a traditional Japanese message, here are some things you could write:
| Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu. 明けましておめでとうございます｡ |
Happy New Year! Unlike letters, Japanese New Year’s cards do not require a ‘dear x’. You can just open with the New Year’s greeting. |
You may follow up with:
| Honnendomo [addressee’s name + san] ni itte yoi toshi de arimasuyou oinori moushiagemasu. ほんねんども [addressee’s name + さん] にとって よいとしでありますよう おいのりもうしあげます。 |
For formal situations (like writing to a teacher or someone who is a lot older than you). |
| Kono ichinen ga [addressee’s name + san] ni totte sutekina toshi de arimasuyouni! のいちねんが [addressee’s name + さん] にとって すてきなとしでありように！ |
For informal situations (like writing to a friend or someone you know quite well). |
After this, you can add a personal message or you can add words of thanks, requests for continued favor or wishes for health. Some examples from japanese.about.com:
| Sakunen wa taihen osewa ni nari arigatou gozaimashita. 昨年は大変お世話になり ありがとうございました｡ |
Thank you for all your kind help during the past year. |
| Honnen mo douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu. 本年もどうぞよろしくお願いします｡ |
I hope for your continued favor this year. |
| Minasama no gokenkou o oinori moushiagemasu. 皆様のご健康をお祈り申し上げます｡ |
Wishing everyone good health. |
Sign with your name at the end.
Addressing the envelope
Japanese addresses can be a bit tricky at first. If you are sending a card from abroad, you will most likely have a horizontal envelope in a standard size. Here’s an example of how to address an envelope to Japan:
Write ‘NENGA’ in big, red letters in the top left corner (or in kanji: 年賀). It should be clearly visible. This tells the post office that it is a New Year’s card and that they should hold it until the 1st of January. In Japan, it is acceptable for cards to arrive after the 1st of January but not before the 1st. Make sure to never write a person’s name in red ink. This is considered bad luck because names on graves are also red.
If you write the address in romaji (our Western, romanized letters), make sure to write very clearly. It is difficult for Japanese people to read our handwriting. If you can write Japanese, try to write the address in hiragana or even in kanji. If you opt for kanji, double-check that you write the addressee’s name correctly.
Write your own address on the back of the envelope. And of course don’t forget to put a stamp on it.
All finished! Your card should be good to go!
The Japans 
thanks for sharing. i had no idea that the address goes before the name.
Addresses in Japan took me a lot of getting used to. Every year when I send the cards, I have to figure out how to send them all over again. But this year it should be easier because of this post that I wrote last year.
What a great post!! This should be very helpful. We should stress about putting the “NENGA” word big, red, and visible and if possible in kanji like 年賀 to ensure delivery on or after January 1 and not before. (After is acceptable but never before. Kind of the opposite of Christmas cards.)
For people who are going through “mochu”, it’s actually traditionally acceptable though not often done that one sends a new year card to someone who has lost a close (a parent, grandparent, child, and I think a sibling but not beyond) family member. The original rule was, may he or she be excused from sending a new year card but if you send me one, that’s fine but I won’t respond kind of thing.
I’m glad you like this post ^_^ I hope many people will find it helpful. Thank you for the extra information! Your clarifications are always very helpful. It’s nice to get the inside knowledge from someone who knows Japanese culture very well. I will edit the post to include the extra information.
This is a great guide for people 🙂 I love sending out New Year’s cards 😀
Yes me too. And a nice side-effect of sending them out, is that I receive lots of cards from Japan in return as well 🙂
“All the cards posted before December 26th are guaranteed to be delivered on the 1st of January.”
That’s really interesting! I didn’t know about that before reading this article – although in hindsight, I can’t say it’s too surprising. I’ve more or less stopped counting the times I’ve been impressed by Japan’s postal service, but I still get absurdly happy when someone delivers a package to my door at 9pm on a Sunday. I don’t know how things are done elsewhere in the world but it’s nothing like back in New Zealand, that’s for sure.
Same here. Belgian postal service could learn a thing or two from Japan. In Belgium, whenever you are not home when a package is delivered, you have to go to the post office to pick it up. In Japan, you can call and choose a time for redelivery, free of charge. So convenient! They even have an Elgish speaking service for redelivery. I really miss the quality of Japanese service now that I don’t live there anymore.
Bedankt! Zeer nuttig en precies op tijd.
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2013 16:25:30 +0000
To: stafdaems@hotmail.com
Ik ben blij dat de gids al meteen gebruikt zal worden 🙂