Happy New Year greetings

We spent January 1st eating our osechi and visiting several shrines.  It is a great way to spend the day as a family.  We also snuck in a movie, which was a wonderful little escape in the middle of the day.

I find myself chuckling as we eat our osechi because when we were in the US, my husband worked so hard, along with a good friend, to make osechi at home.  But in Japan, we simply order it and eat, eat, eat!

Since New Years is the most celebrated holiday in Japan, it is not surprising there are lots of customs that go along with the holiday beyond just the food and asking for good luck.  Since I love to receive mail, it is no surprise that I love the tradition of sending New Year's greeting cards (known as  nengajo). 

The card is typically a postcard.  The cards can be custom made or purchased at a store.  2019 is the year of the boar, so most of the cards I saw for sale this year have a boar represented in some way.

Of course, Disney characters are also very popular.

These cards had a scratch game on them.

On the back, there is not just a pre-paid stamp.  There is also a 2019 mark that tells the post office to hold the delivery of the card until 2019.  In fact, the post office holds all New Years cards until New Years Day because in Japan it is unlucky to wish someone a happy new year before the actual new year. 

Back in the day, my husband's family owned a small store and they received stacks and stacks of cards on the first day of the new year.  It was shocking how many cards they received.  Of course, most didn't have personalized messages, but it was still fun nonetheless. 

I saw this huge New Year card drop box at the post office.

My son was the lucky winner of the one New Year greeting card our family received.  (Many young people don't send them like their parents did.  They rely on texts or using Line, just like many young Americans don't send Christmas cards.)  His card was from his kindergarten teacher! 

When shopping for New Year cards, there are also lots of little decorated envelopes for sale.  The envelopes are for money.  Parents and relatives, as well as close family friends, give children these fun little envelopes filled with cash.  The custom is called Otoshidama.

According to bestlivingjapan.com, kids generally get 5-6 Otoshidama.  Elementary school aged kids get around ¥2,000-¥3,000 in each envelope.  Kids in junior high are gifted around ¥5,000.  High school aged kids receive ¥10,000 from each person. It is big no-no is to give money without an envelope.

Our son saves his Otoshidama money for picking out a toy he wants that we won't buy for him.  Last year he saved his cash for months until he found a Lego set with gears that he really wanted.  It was a great toy choice that he still plays with regularly.