When Do You Send a Nengajo?
Timing is the heart of nengajo etiquette. Unlike an American holiday card, which can arrive any time in December without comment, a nengajo is supposed to arrive on January 1 — not before, and ideally not much after. The whole system, from the post office's handling to the recipient's expectations, is built around that date.
The December mailing window
Each season, Japan Post begins accepting New Year's cards in mid-December and holds them for coordinated delivery on New Year's morning. Cards posted within the announced window — marked as New Year's mail — are not delivered when they would normally arrive; they are batched and released so that the whole year's greetings land together on January 1. This special handling is a long-standing feature of the Japanese postal calendar, and the modern custom of the January 1 mailbox full of cards depends on it. The Nippon.com overview of nengajo customs describes this rhythm of the season.
The practical takeaway: prepare cards in early December and mail them before the posted deadline for guaranteed New Year's Day delivery. Exact dates are announced each year by Japan Post, so treat any specific date you read on an unofficial site as approximate.
How late is too late?
Custom gives you a grace period. Cards arriving during matsu no uchi — the opening days of the new year, conventionally through about January 7 in most of Japan — are still considered proper New Year's greetings. If you receive a card from someone you hadn't sent one to, the polite move is to reply promptly so your card arrives within that window.
After matsu no uchi, you don't send a late nengajo. Instead, custom switches to a different card entirely: the kanchū mimai, a "midwinter greeting" that acknowledges the season without pretending to be a New Year's card. It politely covers the gap for late replies, and it is also the standard greeting to send to households in mourning, as we explain in our guide to mourning years and unused cards.
Sending across borders
If you are mailing between the United States and Japan, the coordinated January 1 delivery does not apply — international mail moves on its own schedule. From the US, mail in early-to-mid December and aim for arrival within the matsu no uchi window. From Japan, Japan Post's overseas greeting card service publishes the rules and zone rates for international New Year's cards; see our full guide to mailing nengajo overseas.
One more timing rule: digital greetings
Digital New Year's greetings follow the opposite convention from paper: because delivery is instant, the polite time to send them is on January 1 itself, traditionally in the morning. Sending a "Happy New Year" message in late December reads as premature in a way a properly held postcard never does.
For choosing between paper and digital formats in the first place, see the Nengajo Format Chooser.