A few weeks ago, I was in the rare situation of being in the Post Office for more than 10 minutes. In the past, I’d only gone to my rural branch, where there is never any line, to buy stamps. This time, I was helping a friend mail boxes home to America. While the postal workers fretted over boxes and checked the paperwork fifteen times, I found myself staring at a nice postcard display. Some of them had flowers, one had Totoro, one had KFC, and nearly all of them had tigers on them. “Oh,” I thought, “These are those postcards Japanese people send to celebrate the New Year! A… a…. nengajo!” Intrigued and realizing that this was the last chance I could try this, I bought a few packs. I ended up getting stressed about how to fill them out and send them to the States, though, which is why I thought to write a post! Hopefully your questions are answered!
Post Contents
- Wait, what’s a nengajo?
- Where can I find them?
- Who can I send them to?
- I’ve got my nengajo. What do I write on it?
- How do I write the address on a nengajo?
- How do I send my nengajo?
- Is there a deadline to send nengajo?
- Why is there an eggplant on the bottom of my nengajo?
1. Wait, what’s a nengajo?
Literally translated, a 年賀状 is a “year congratulations form.” Basically it’s a New Years greeting postcard. Celebrating the New Year is a big thing in Japan; people put out special decorations, reflect on the past year, eat special food for luck and longevity, and clean their house. Yup, no ‘spring cleaning’ here! It’s all done in the dead of winter when it’s so cold you can see your breath inside your house. UGH.
2. Where can I find them?
Come December, you can find them everywhere. At the post office of course, but also supermarkets, konbini, and stores that sell stationary. On top of the ones I got from the post office, I also bought some from 7-11 and from Tokyu Hands. Look for big, red (a lucky color), extravagant displays. The postcards will often have the zodiac animal for the new year as well, which is why most of mine have tigers on them. They come in packs of 3-5 depending on how fancy they are. The cost will also vary, but mine were between 5-7 dollars a pack. Most store-bought nengajo come pre-stamped, so if you’re sending them within Japan, they don’t need any extra postage! Write it, drop it in a mail-collection box, and you’re all set!
If you’re feeling creative and don’t want to buy generic ones, you can also make them, either by hand or on the computer! There are many websites that you can use to make the perfect nengajo. Many of them also offer printing services, so they’re extra convenient. I haven’t done this before so I don’t have any to recommend, but if you type in 年賀状 into Google, lots of make-your-own sites pop up.
3.Who can I send them to?
Anyone, really! More specifically, people that helped you out last year. That means friends and family, of course, but you can also send them to your co-workers, your boss, business clients — you just might have to choose a nicer post card for them, and watch the Japanese you write. Gotta use that flowery fancy Japanese!
I don’t have the addresses of my co-workers, so this year I only sent them to friends and family. They went out to a total of three countries and thirteen US states!
One thing to note if you are sending them to a Japanese person: you don’t send a nengajo to people who’ve had a death in the family that year. That person will instead send a special mourning card out, requesting that nengajo not be sent to them. You can then reply with a special card, but not a nengajo.
Also, it’s a good practice to send a nengajo to someone you received one from! Nengajo typically have the sender’s address on them as well, so you can copy that onto a postcard of your own and drop it in the mail.
4. I’ve got my nengajo. What do I write on it?
Messages go on the front of the card, the side with the picture or whatnot. Some have space, some don’t. I usually just write a New Year’s message in English, but if you write in Japanese, there are some rules to follow. The first is to just be careful about your Japanese. Is the recipient your boss? Better brush up on that keigo then.
The second rule is that you shouldn’t use ending punctuation; every sentence can just be on a different line. The reason is that if you put a period at the end, it’s like you’re ending your contact with this person. Starting a new year is about looking toward the future, so if you put a period, it’s considered rude. Note that this is an old custom; younger people nowadays use punctuation, so it’s ok if you forget.
If you want to write something in Japanese, you can write:
- 明けましておめでとうございます akemashite omedetou gozaimasu Happy New Year
- 今年もよろしくお願いします kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu This one is hard to translate into English, but means something like, “Thank you (in advance) for helping me again this year.”
5. How do I write the address on a nengajo?
This page from the JP post website has a very nice diagram showing you how to write addresses for nengajo going abroad. It’s in Japanese, but the main takeaways are this:
- Turn the postcard horizontal, so the stamp is in the top right.
- Write “FROM” and your address on the top, then write “TO” and the recipient’s address on the bottom, with the country in all caps.
- In the bottom left, write “AIR MAIL” and in another blank space, near the top, write “POSTCARD.”
For nengajo with Japanese addresses, they’re written right to left, top to bottom. I’ve seen articles that say writing them horizontally from left to right is becoming more popular though, so you could probably get away with that too. The recipient’s address goes at the top, starting with their zip/postal code in the little boxes. Underneath the address, write the recipient’s name with 様 after it. Your name/address can go underneath that, in smaller writing.
6. How do I send my nengajo?
If you’re sending them in Japan, simply drop them off in a post box after December 15th, and you’re done! Most nengajo come with postage already on them so you don’t have to fiddle around with stamps. In larger cities, some post boxes have a slot just for nengajo so watch out for that (my little town doesn’t worry about that).
If you’re sending them abroad, attach a ￥7 stamp on it and drop it in the post box! If you’re worried, you can always take it to the post office and have them check it.
7. Is there a deadline to send nengajo?
If you’re sending them within Japan, the “deadline” is December 25th. Postcards posted by Christmas will be held by the post office and delivered on January first. If you post after then, it might not make it in time. You can also send them after the New Year, too! It’s good practice to send a nengajo back to someone who sent one to you, and you have until January 6th-ish to get them in the mail — nengajo received after January 7th are late, and that’s rude.
If you’re sending them abroad, you can send them whenever you want! JP Post doesn’t handle nengajo delivery outside of Japan though, so you might want to look up a delivery calculator if you want them to be delivered right on the first. For example, I sent mine to America on the 21st because it takes ~10 days for things to reach America from Japan. That way, they’ll arrive around the first which is good enough for me!
8. Why is there an eggplant at the bottom of my nengajo?
I’m not 100% sure that this is the reason, but I believe it has to do with a Japanese belief about the first dream of the new year (hatsuyume). It is thought you will have good luck through the year if you dream of Mt. Fuji, a hawk, and an eggplant. Why those specific things? Well, Mt. Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan, and thus is very lucky. Maybe your luck will rise as tall as the mountain! Hawks are smart and strong. They catch their prey with sharp talons, like you might catch a lucky opportunity or chance. Last, ‘eggplant’ in Japanese is nasu (茄子), which also means to achieve, accomplish, or do (成す). Maybe you’ll be able to accomplish something great this year!
So while I’m not 100% positive (and not all nengajo have eggplants on the bottom), I think this belief is where it comes from.
To wrap up…
I hope I answered your questions and that you can now send nengajo like a pro! I think the hardest part for me in the whole process was writing the address. Once I figured out how, it was easy as pie. Now get out there and buy/make some awesome nengajo!
Great content! Keep up the good work!
That’s all very cool. I look forward to getting one!! 😀