When Do You Send Nengajo (Japanese New Year Cards) in 2026? | From Sunday, December 20th — Post by the 27th for New Year’s Day

For the 2027 New Year, Japan Post starts accepting nengajo — Japanese New Year cards — on Sunday, December 20th, 2026. To have yours arrive on New Year’s Day, post it by Sunday, December 27th.

A nengajo (年賀状, “new-year greeting card”) is a postcard you send to wish someone a happy New Year. It is a small winter letter that carries a simple message: “Thank you for last year — I hope we stay close this year, too.”

This year, both dates are about five days later than usual. If you remember “from the 15th, by the 25th,” that was the old rule.

What you’ll find here

Key dates for 2027 New Year cards
What changed this year
Where the custom comes from
Simple tips for writing your first nengajo
What if a card comes from someone in mourning?

Key dates for 2027 New Year cards

Monday, November 2nd: New Year postcards go on sale. A plain card costs 85 yen
Sunday, December 20th: Post offices start accepting New Year cards
Sunday, December 27th: Suggested last day to post for New Year’s Day delivery
Friday, January 1st and Sunday, January 3rd: New Year cards are delivered
Friday, January 15th: New Year postcards stop being sold

Japan Post’s New Year postcards come with an otoshidama lottery number — checking whether you’ve won is one of the small pleasures of January. The first lottery New Year postcards were issued on December 1st, 1949.

What changed this year

According to Japan Post, starting with the 2027 cards:

Cards are accepted from December 20th (previously the 15th)
The suggested posting date for New Year’s Day delivery is December 27th (previously the 25th)
Postcards are sold until January 15th (previously around the 10th)

The change reflects how many people now post their cards late, or write back after receiving one. A little more breathing room at the end of the year.

Where the custom comes from

Nengajo grew out of nenshi-mawari (年始回り), the custom of visiting people in the New Year — those who had helped you, relatives, neighbors — to greet them in person.

The habit of sending New Year greetings in writing is said to go back to the Heian period (794–1185). Its exact origin is unclear, but letter-writing manuals from the late Heian period reportedly include New Year greetings exchanged by letter.

When Japan’s modern postal service began in the Meiji era and postcards appeared in 1873, sending a card gradually came to replace visiting in person. That became the nengajo we know today.

Simple tips for your first nengajo

Write the greeting large: The New Year phrase — such as Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu (“Happy New Year”) or Kinga shinnen (謹賀新年) — is traditionally written larger than the rest
Add one line by hand: Even on a printed card, a short personal note (“How have you been?” “Let’s meet this year”) makes it feel warm
Use the zodiac animal: 2027 is the Year of the Sheep (未, hitsuji). A single little sheep drawing makes it a New Year card
If you’re late: Traditionally, cards were fine as long as they arrived within matsu no uchi, the New Year period lasting until around January 7th. No need to panic if you miss New Year’s Day

What if a card comes from someone in mourning?

People who have lost a family member that year usually refrain from exchanging New Year cards. If you receive a card while you are in mourning, the custom is to reply after matsu no uchi ends, around January 8th.

Trying nengajo, gently

You don’t need to send many. One card to the person you most want to see is enough
Make the week from Sunday, December 20th your “nengajo week,” and post by the 27th
Writing to a friend in Japan? Add one line in Japanese: Kotoshi mo yoroshiku — “Here’s to another year together”

Once your cards are posted, see our guides to Japanese New Year decorations and Hatsumōde, the first shrine visit.

In closing

A nengajo is a small letter that tells someone you can’t see: “I’m well — and I’m glad you’re in my life.”

For 2027, cards are accepted from Sunday, December 20th. Post by the 27th, and it will be waiting on New Year’s morning.

References

Japan Post, “Overview of 2027 (Reiwa 9) New Year Postcards” (August 31, 2026)
Japan Post, “New Year Card Culture for the Future” (press release attachment 3, August 31, 2023)
Kotobank, “Nengajō” (Digital Daijisen; Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten; Nihon Dai Hyakka Zensho (Nipponica); Sekai Dai Hyakka Jiten)