Here in America, we generally look forward to friends and family sending out Christmas cards towards the end of the year. This tradition is not widely practiced in Japan, though the Japanese people are still accustomed to receiving a slew of cards over the holiday season. These cards are known as nengajo, the New Year’s cards.
Every year, stores will stock special nengajo cards decorated with the animal associated with the coming year’s Chinese zodiac sign. People will buy these cards in bulk and send them out to friends, families, classmates, and coworkers, marking them specially to arrive on New Year’s Day. They will fill out these cards with personalized greetings, expressions of gratitude, and other messages to reaffirm friendships and strengthen relationships. Some people will buy special cards marked with a number, which may be drawn as part of a New Year lottery that entitles the winners to valuable prizes.
Try making your own Year of the Monkey a bit more special by making quality Japanese fare a bigger part of your life with Flo Restaurant. Our Japanese restaurant in Bellevue has many old favorites to ring in the new year with.