Page 394 - Basic Japanese
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the post office, and delivered on January first all at
once. It is important to write (New Year celebration)
in red right below the space for the stamp on the front
of the postcard to prevent it from being delivered before
January first. Post offices hire numerous part-time
workers, mostly students, to sort nengajō in December.
Each family receives a bunch of the cards, often more
than a hundred. The greeting phrase most commonly
written on nengajō is Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu ‘Happy
New Year.’ The Japanese often print, draw, or stamp the
new year’s zodiacal animal on the card. Nengajō plays an
important role in allowing the Japanese to keep in touch
with their relatives and friends over the years. As you
might suspect, nengajō in electronic format are gaining in
popularity.
OTHER COMMUNICATION TOOLS
chatto chat, chatting
