Nengajo Free — A plain-English guide to Japanese New Year's cards

A plain-English guide to Japanese New Year's cards

Nengajo Format Chooser

There are more ways to send a Japanese New Year's greeting than most people realize — official lottery postcards, print-shop photo cards, handmade cards on plain stock, airmail cards to or from overseas, and digital greetings. This table compares the main formats so you can pick the one that fits your relationship, your timeline, and where you and the recipient live.

Postage rates, deadlines, and card specifications are set by Japan Post and change over time. Confirm current details on the official Japan Post pages linked from our guides before mailing.

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Format ▲	Best for	Lottery numbers?	Postage	Timing notes
Airmail greeting card sent from Japan overseas	Greeting friends and family outside Japan	No	International rate by zone and size	Mail early — allow one to two weeks of transit
Card mailed from the US to Japan	Americans greeting contacts in Japan	No	US international first-class rate	Mail in early-to-mid December; late arrivals are fine through about January 7
Digital nengajo (email, e-card, or messaging app)	Casual greetings, last-minute wishes, younger recipients	No	None	Traditionally sent on January 1 itself, not before
Handmade or art card on plain postcard stock	Personal, artistic greetings to close friends	No	Standard postcard rate, with the card marked as New Year mail	Same December window applies if you want January 1 delivery
Official New Year's postcard (nenga hagaki)	Most people mailing within Japan; the default choice	Yes — printed on the card	Prepaid on the card itself	Post within Japan Post's December acceptance window for January 1 delivery
Print-shop photo nengajo on official stock	Family photo cards and business cards in bulk	Yes, when printed on official lottery stock	Prepaid if on official stock	Order early — print shops get busy from late November

Nengajo are the New Year's postcards that Japanese households, businesses, and friends exchange every January, and this site is a free, plain-English reference for anyone who wants to understand or take part in the custom. That includes Americans with family, friends, or colleagues in Japan, students of Japanese, exchange participants, and anyone who received a card with a lottery number at the bottom and wondered what it was.

The guides here cover the questions people actually ask: what a nengajo is, when cards are supposed to arrive, what the printed greetings mean, how to address a card properly, how the New Year's lottery works, and what to do in a year of mourning. Where rules and rates are set by Japan Post, we link to the official pages rather than repeating numbers that go stale.

If you're deciding what kind of card to send in the first place, start with the Nengajo Format Chooser, a side-by-side comparison of the main options — official lottery postcards, print-shop photo cards, handmade cards, overseas airmail, and digital greetings — so you can pick the one that fits your situation.