As usual, hordes of New Year's cards were exchanged during this year's New Year holiday. The Japanese custom of sending postcards bearing greetings to celebrate the New Year resembles the exchange of Christmas cards practiced in Christian countries.
Many people do not feel that the New Year has arrived until they receive their greeting cards, and the custom shows no sign of dying out even in this age of communication via telephone, personal computer, Internet, and other electronic means.
An Average of Over 30 Cards Per Person
Exchanging New Year's greetings with relatives, friends, coworkers, and schoolmates has long been customary. Sending New Year's letters and postcards, however, became a common practice only after 1871, when the postal system was established, enabling people to send missives easily.
In 1899 a special system was set up whereby New Year's cards mailed during a designated period in December would be given a January 1 stamp and delivered on the first day of the year. This initiated the custom of writing the cards at the end of the year and reading them on New Year's Day.
In 1949, after World War II, lottery numbers were printed on the New Year's postcards sold at post offices and prizes awarded in a drawing. Since then, these cards have sold so well that they have become almost synonymous with New Year's cards.
The number of New Year's cards exchanged has risen year by year. For the 1996 New Year, the post office printed 3.9 billion cards, 100 million more than the previous year, but still they were almost sold out. In addition to these, commercially marketed New Year's cards and letters are sent as well, meaning an average of 30 New Year's greetings mailed for every Japanese man, woman, and child. To handle this volume, every year many large post offices throughout the country hire a great part-time workers to collect, sort, and deliver the cards.
Greetings in the Electronic Age
In addition to the formalized New Year's greeting, many people add messages about what they have been doing recently or their hopes and plans for the coming year. Cards like these are appreciated by the recipients, but as the number of cards sent has risen, many people have come to have the greeting part printed ahead of time and write only the additional message and address by hand. In fact, many people even have the message printed.
In the past few years, as word processors and personal computers have become more widespread, growing numbers of people have been printing cards on their own--including the names and addresses. There are many, however, who feel that it is too impersonal to print even the address on this once-a-year greeting. And in fact, when the season for writing New Year's cards rolls around, marking pens, brushes, and other card-making equipment line the fronts of stationery shops and sell well.
Recently, software that adds a personal touch to machine-printed cards has appeared and is gaining popularity among those who prefer handwritten cards. One computer program for postcards features the blurred effect typical of brush writing. Different type faces, including printing and cursive styles, can be selected and stroke pressure and the darkness of the ink can be set to create an impression as close as possible to real brush writing. There are also software available containing dozens of illustrations and layouts, as well as those than can rotate characters.
Word processors have also been upgraded, with some being able to print color images that have been either scanned or photographed with digital cameras.
At the same time, sending New Year's greetings via e-mail also seems to be on the rise. To handle these, personal computer networks have appeared that provide e-mail delivery service on a designated date or that offer illustrations for e-mail New Year's cards.
(The above article, edited by Japan Echo Inc., is based on domestic Japanese news sources. It is offered for reference purposes and does not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.)