1. How New Year Greeting Letters Appeared in Heian-Era Writing Guides
The custom of exchanging New Year greetings by letter is recorded in a writing guide called Unshu Shosoku (also known as Meiko Orai), which was created in the late Heian period. It includes example sentences for New Year greetings. The guide was compiled by Fujiwara no Akihira [1]. At that time, New Year greetings were mainly done in person. However, records from the writing guide suggest that letters were sometimes used for this purpose [2]. It is not clear exactly when or where this custom began. Some explanations suggest that congratulatory messages were already exchanged via letters in the Nara period [1], so it cannot be stated definitively that it started in the Heian period.
2. How Meiji-Era Postal Systems Made New Year Cards Common
Modern postal service began in 1871 (Meiji 4), and postal postcards appeared in 1873 (Meiji 6). In 1900 (Meiji 33), privately made postcards were also permitted. Through these changes in the system, the habit of sending New Year cards became common [2]. A record from 1881 states that the custom of exchanging New Year greetings via postcards was becoming more popular year by year [3]. On December 16, 1899 (Meiji 32), special handling for New Year mail began. This system collected New Year cards during a set period before the year-end and delivered them all together on January 1. Initially, this service was only available at designated post offices [4].
3. How a Tailor's Idea in 1949 Created Lottery New Year Cards
New Year cards with a "New Year’s gift lottery" were released on December 1, 1949 (Showa 24), for use in 1950. There were 30 million regular 2-yen cards and 150 million cards with a 1-yen donation fee. They are said to be the first lottery-bearing postal items in the world [5]. The person who proposed this idea was Masaharu Hayashi, a tailor living in Kyoto who ran a shop in Shinsaibashi, Osaka. After the war, when people had lost contact with each other, he believed that reviving New Year cards would help people learn about each other’s lives. Adding lottery prizes and donation fees would offer hope and support social welfare. According to a research journal, this was Hayashi’s idea, and he reportedly came up with it in June, six months before the release [5]. The Postal Council expressed concern, saying, "It is an interesting idea, but it is too early; people are struggling for food." However, the postal service, which was running a deficit, also wanted to increase the volume of mail. Sales in the first year were small, and there is a story that Hayashi bought the unsold cards himself [5]. However, this is hearsay. Hayashi later said he thought it would last only "two or three years" [5]. The first prizes included a sewing machine for the top prize and clothing fabric for first prize. In 2014, a cash prize of 10,000 yen appeared for the first time [3].
4. How Print Gocco Brought Home Printing of New Year Cards in 1977
Print Gocco was a home printing machine released by Riso Kagaku Corporation in 1977. Newspapers report that more than 10 million units were sold in total [8]. According to encyclopedia descriptions, the mechanism works as follows: When flash light is applied to a manuscript with handwritten text or drawings, the black parts absorb heat. This heat creates tiny holes in the thin resin film of the master plate. Ink passed through these holes is pressed onto the card like a stamp [9]. While this allowed families to print many copies of the same design at home, it is not clear from the materials in this article how this affected the total number of New Year cards sent.
5. How Computers and Inkjet Paper Changed Making New Year Cards
In November 1998, PC Watch featured "New Year card creation software" that made the work of writing addresses and messages easier. Before this, people faced difficulties such as misaligned printing [11]. In the 1990s, inkjet printers became available at lower prices. Sales of the printer units themselves ended on June 30, 2008, and sales, including related products, ended in 2012 [10]. For the 2005 New Year cards, inkjet paper accounted for a record high of approximately 2.266 billion sheets. This was about half of the total 4.35 billion sheets. Calculated, this is about 52% [6].
6. How the Number of New Year Cards Fell From Its Peak to One-Sixth
The highest number of New Year cards issued was for 2004, with approximately 4.46 billion sheets. For 2005, the number was approximately 4.35 billion, a decrease from the previous year [6]. Some materials write that "2003 was the peak," but this counts by the year of release (autumn 2003). If counted by the year of use, 2004 is the peak. The total number of cards issued for 2026 is 785,047,000 sheets (approximately 785 million) [7]. Comparing the total numbers, 4.459 billion divided by 785 million is approximately 5.7. This means the number has fallen to about one-sixth of the peak.
7. How to Ask Adults and Check Official Figures About New Year Cards
Try asking an adult you know, "How many New Year cards did you send in the past?" and "How did you make them?" You might hear about differences by era, such as handwriting, stamps, Print Gocco, or computers. Compare their answers with the timeline in this article. If there are parts that match or do not match, that is where you should look next. The materials for this article did not include historical statistics on the number of cards sent by individuals. Official numbers can be checked in Japan Post’s announcements about New Year card issuance (for each year) and the research journal of the Postal Museum. Both are in Japanese.