nengajo!

i think that i've finally got the last of my nengajo sent off. yessss!!
in the U.S. we send xmas cards, right? and usually they say something like "merry christmas and happy new year!"
since xmas is more of a decorative holiday in japan, people don't really do xmas cards. nengajo (new year's cards) are bigger and more traditional.

what do you think of those rabbits...bunnies?
cute, eh?

2011 is the year of the rabbit in the chinese zodiac. so, nengajo for 2011 will have something like a picture of a bunny/rabbit or a kanji on them. the post office sells plain postcards for about 50c each (pre-stamped).
i buy rubber stamps and hand-stamp mine every year. but printing places like fuji and supermarkets like fresta have pre-printed cards that you can order sets of. people with color/photo printers print theirs at home or take them to kinkos to be printed.

so...what's the point?
the point is to give a greeting to the people who've helped you out through the past year, and ask for their kindness to continue into the new year.
most cards say:
akemashite omedetou gozaimasu
あけましておめでとうございます
(happy new year)

kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu
今年もよろしくお願いします
(please look kindly upon me this year, too)

the post office asks that you post your nengajo by december 25, so that it can reach its recipient by....
*drum roll*

new year's morning!

yes, that's one of the fun parts of nengajo:
opening the mailbox on new year's morning and pulling out (hopefully) a thick stack of cards.
my co-workers say that looking through nengajo while sitting under the kotatsu and eating mikan is the best way to spend the early part of the day.

nengajo, however, are not without their problems.
city hall and many companies have actually banned? people from sending them out. or maybe, have a policy that discourages them.
let's say that you are working for sony. and you do business with a lot of people. without a policy in place, you'd be obligated to send those people nengajo. that can end up being hundreds of cards, which in turn would cost hundreds of dollars...and would also take up a lot of time.
quite honestly, i've seen people come to the post office carrying hundreds of cards!

so, me and my co-workers just send nengajo to friends haha!

one final good thing about nengajo...on the back of each card is a number.
if you are lucky, your number will win you a prize of some sort, including money!