About Nengajo Free

Nengajo Free is a small reference site about Japanese New Year's cards — the nengajo tradition, its history, its etiquette, and the practical mechanics of preparing and mailing cards, including from outside Japan.

It is written for an English-speaking audience: people with personal or professional ties to Japan, language learners, and the simply curious. The pages stick to durable, well-established customs and history, and where something is governed by official policy — postage rates, overseas mailing rules, the exchange of unused cards — we link directly to Japan Post's own English pages instead of restating figures that change.

Everything here is reviewed reference material, offered for general information. It is not professional advice of any kind, and it is not affiliated with Japan Post or any postal authority. For current rates, deadlines, and official rules, always rely on the linked primary sources; for anything beyond general custom, ask the post office directly.

The centerpiece is the Nengajo Format Chooser, a comparison table of the main ways to send a New Year's greeting, kept deliberately simple so it stays accurate.