New Year's Card Culture in Japan

Did you know that most Japanese people still keep the tradition of sending New Year's cards?

The Japanese New Year card is called "Nianhe Zhuang", and it is one of the important components of Japanese New Year's traditional culture. As early as the Nara era, the Japanese had already exchanged greetings at the beginning of the new year. In the Heian period, nobles began to express New Year greetings to relatives and friends in the distance in the form of documents. Japan formally established a postal system in 1871, and began issuing postal postcards in 1873. Since then, more and more Japanese choose to send New Year greetings to each other with postal postcards.

Japan Post launched the "New Year Postcard" in 1949 and continues to this day. Its special feature is that there is a set of 6 lottery numbers in the lower right corner of each front. Take the 2019 New Year's card as an example. All 6-digit numbers will be the first prize. 2,000 people will be drawn to receive 300,000 yen in cash or travel and shopping coupons. The last 4 digits are the same as the second prize. 240,000 people will be drawn to receive a gift package of souvenirs from all over Japan. The last 2 digits are the same as the third prize, 70 million people will be drawn and 2 limited edition stamps will be awarded.

To welcome the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, in October this year, Japan Post designed an Olympic-themed New Year card. This New Year's card can participate in a special lucky draw, and you will get 2 Olympic tickets including travel and accommodation expenses!

With the rapid development and popularization of the Internet, the New Year card market has ushered in new opportunities and challenges. In addition to Japan Post, there are also many websites that provide materials and printing services, and many stationery, printing, and clothing brands also come to share a bowl of "Chinese New Year Card Soup." The popular Japanese social software LINE has also launched a service for making New Year's cards online, and the styles of New Year's cards have been greatly enriched.

The Japanese have a few specialties about sending New Year cards. First of all, the text is exquisite, avoiding unlucky words such as "to", "losing" and "broken". The patterns prefer pine, plum, crane and other beautiful images, and often add zodiac elements. In addition to relatives and friends, Japanese people also send New Year's cards to colleagues and teachers who are usually taken care of, and merchants send them to customers. Most Japanese people prepare a photo album to collect Chinese New Year cards at home, and many people still retain the habit of handwriting Chinese New Year cards, which is enough to see how much they attach importance to Chinese New Year cards.

Second, the mailing time is particular. The time that the other party receives should be controlled between January 1st and January 7th of the New Year. At the same time, be careful not to send New Year's cards to friends in mourning, nor do they send New Year's cards to those in mourning. In both cases, Japanese will send "Winter Greetings" from January 8th to February 4th.

In order to send the New Year's card to everyone on January 1, the post office will hire a large number of temporary workers to complete the sorting of the New Year's card every year, set up a special delivery mailbox for the New Year's card, and recommend that people deliver before December 25. I am happy to receive New Year greetings from all directions early in the morning of the new year.