‘So old-fashioned’: Japan’s New Year card tradition fast declining in age of messaging apps

Technology has allowed families to design and print personalised New Year cards, instead of sending physical cards via postal services

While some say it is ‘bothersome’ to write and send personal messages to multiple people, others lament the loss of a centuries-old tradition

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Post office workers on motorcycles deliver New Year cards on New Year’s Day in Ichikawa City, Japan in 2020. The number of cards delivered on the first day of 2024 declined nearly 16 per cent on the year. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:30pm, 1 Jan 2024Updated: 1:33pm, 2 Jan 2024

Around 743 million New Year greeting cards, or nengajo, were delivered across Japan on Monday, although that figure is down nearly 16 per cent from the number delivered on the first day of 2023, continuing the gradual decline of a tradition that can be traced as far back as the Nara period some 1,300 years ago.

Post workers on motorcycles were given a rousing send-off from major cities’ main post offices early in the day, another long-standing convention, with some dressed in historical postmen’s uniforms. But with fewer New Year cards being sent, many found their bags lighter than in previous years.

“I did not send any cards this year because it is just a nuisance,” said Makoto Hosomura, who lives in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, who retired this year from a career in the wine importing business.

“In the past, I had to print out more than a hundred cards because it’s polite and expected in business,” he told This Week in Asia. “Then I had to write a personal message on each one, thanking all these contacts for their business in the last year and adding something about looking forward to an even better year ahead.

“Some years it took me days to do it all, and then there was a problem if I forgot to send one to a customer and I would have to rush around on January 1, after I’d received their card, and print one out, write a message and get it in the post as quickly as possible so it would arrive the next day,” he said.

“I retired this year, so I no longer need to stay in touch with those business contacts. So we decided to not send any cards this year and only send a few to personal friends and family members from January 1,” he said. “In truth, it has been a relief not to be stressed with the obligation of sending so many cards.”

Japanese New Year cards. Technology in recent decades has allowed families to design and print at home their personalised New Year cards, although it also appears that technology may be the cause of the tradition’s decline. Photo: Shutterstock

‘So old-fashioned’: Japan’s New Year card tradition fast declining in age of messaging apps

Technology has allowed families to design and print personalised New Year cards, instead of sending physical cards via postal services While some say it is ‘bothersome’ to write and send personal messages to multiple people, others lament the loss of a centuries-old tradition

Technology has allowed families to design and print personalised New Year cards, instead of sending physical cards via postal services

While some say it is ‘bothersome’ to write and send personal messages to multiple people, others lament the loss of a centuries-old tradition