nengajo

Whenever nengajo (New Year card) season comes around, the post office asks you to bundle your cards and stick them into the mail box.

The reason they ask you to bundle them is so that they can keep the New Year cards separate from the regular mail since these New Year cards are delivered on New Year's day (if they aren’t bundled they will get delivered right away)

This was the first time I saw that someone had attached a bag of rubber bands to the mail box for people to bundle their cards.

A very thoughtful act!

cute

I recently went to pick up the stamps that we "won".

Every year, at the bottom of our nengajo (new years cards), there are numbers.

On January 15th (or there about), they pick random numbers for various prizes.

You have the best chance of winning these stamps because you only need to look at the last 2 numbers on your card.

I thought it was also cute that they incorporated last year's year of the rooster in the picture...

the procrastinator

The other day, the weather was gloomy, so I worked on the holiday cards to be sent to family and friends overseas.

Then, over the weekend, I told Satoshi he should work on his.

Thought he might work on it on Saturday after his German class...nope, what a procrastinator...

Every year it is the same routine...

Digging his heels in, watching tv...anything than having to work on it.

He claims there is a "pace" to working on them...blah blah blah

Sunday it was a beautiful day but we didn't go anywhere because I wanted him to finish addressing his cards...but no, just more procrastinating and moaning.

Seriously thinking about not sending out cards to friends and relatives in Japan next year so I don't have to deal with all the whining and groaning...

beautiful

We recently received this handwritten nengajo (New Year card) from my cousin in Okinawa.

In Japanese it reads "ryu-hi-hou-bu"...in Chinese "ron-fei-fon-ooh"

In English, it is "Dragons Soar, Phoenix Dance"

The saying is used as wishes for the new year.

I think both the handwriting and the writing are beautiful.

daily stuff

Yesterday, just as I was about to print out a sample of our nengajo (New Years card), our printer literally sizzled out of existence.

We decided not to replace the printer, we hardly use it.

If we really need to print something out, we can do so at the convenience store as long as the data is on a USB memory stick.

We also decided that our nengajo this year will be "old skool"...handwritten and decorated with rubber stamps.

Since today is rainy, I have been working on the ones I want to send to friends and family in Hawaii, the US mainland and other worldwide destinations.

The muscles in my writing arm are getting a loud reminder that they rarely get used these days with computers and smartphones...

Hope your week is going well.

daily stuff

　The daytimes have been warm (hot!) while the early mornings and evenings have been quite cool.

Last night we had quite a rainstorm. No thunder but it was coming down quite hard.

Today, I went to the post office to get their Star Wars masking tapes. They are really cute!

Also in preparation for the end of the year, the post office is bringing back the foodie stamps. This year's version is of ramen & sukiyaki.

Last year I was late to the game and wasn't able to get enough stamps for the cards I send overseas.

Since the stamps go on sale tomorrow, I put in an order so that they could keep some aside for me.

How is your week going?

'tis the season

It's supposed to rain all day today, so I've planned to stay indoors and work on our holiday cards...

There is a program we bought when we first came to Japan called "Fudeoh" (foo-day-oh)...similar to "Print Shop" where you can design various cards.

Whenever we changed computers another version had to be bought and I was getting kinda peeved with their scam.

So...this year, I came across a book version that has 2 CDs in it...880 yen (plus tax).

I had asked someone at the electronics store if the book version was similar to the box version....(the box version is 3300 yen (plus tax)).

The person I had asked was representing the box version, said that they were NOT similar and if we wanted to use Fudeoh we would need to purchase the box version...(of course she would say that!)

Well...

we bought the book version, uploaded it and it works JUST LIKE the box version...there aren't as many clip arts or fonts, but it works!

I now have to update our address database because our last back-ups were done in 2007...wish me luck!

p.s. it looks like Blogger has turned on the "captcha" thingy even if I have it "off" in my settings...sorry!

nengajo

Previously I wrote about Nengajo (New Year cards) and Mochu Hagaki here.

Usually nengajo uses the phrase "akemashite omedetoo" (ah-kay-mah-she-tay o-may-day-toe) which means "happy new year".

Well, this year, due to the big earthquake and tragedy in the Tohoku area, everyone is kind of on egg shells as to how to approach this card trading custom.

With reason the people in the Tohoku area aren't in any mood to "celebrate" the New Year and the rest of Japan, doesn't quite know what kind of greetings to send.

Recently on television, they showed the people of the Tohoku area sending out "I'm doing fine" cards. It was also shown that the rest of Japan should refrain from using "akemashite omedetoo" and instead use words like, "kansha" (kahn-shah which means appreciation) and "arigatoo" (ah-ree-gah-toe which means thanks).

So that is what we did. I really hope next year will be a better one for everyone, especially those in the Tohoku area.

p.s. On yesterday's post I mentioned Instagram, if you are already on Instagram and want to see your feed and friend's photos from your computer, just go to Inkstagram and log in through your Instagram account.

p.p.s. I'll be off the grid for a couple of days (though I may post to Instagram), I have some posts lined up until we return and I will moderate comments later.

mochu hagaki

Every year, people send New Year's greetings to one another in the form of a postcard. 

This card is called Nengajo. The Nengajo is usually blank so that you can print a photo, or pictures of eto (Chinese zodiac sign) for the upcoming year. 

You can also take your photo to a shop and have it printed on special postcards to be mailed out. 

The younger generation just email one another.

I really enjoy receiving nengajo because most people print a photo of themselves from a vacation taken that year, or show how big their children got. 

The cards are really festive and colorful. 

On top of this, there is a lottery with the numbers at the bottom of the blank nengajo that you buy from the post office and you have the chance to win prizes, sometimes trips abroad. 

The cards are delivered on the first 3 days of the New Year. The postmen take a day off then deliver more on the 5th day. There is one rule of nengajo that I just don't get, after you send out your cards, you sometimes receive one from someone you didn't send one to. 

For me, I would just put that person's name on my list for the next year, but Satoshi says you have to send one to that person right away. So sometimes, after the New Year has started you are still sending out cards. I guess it is being courteous to return the card, but to me there is just no end to it!

 As you know, this year Satoshi's father passed away. As a rule of etiquette, you aren't supposed to send nengajo. 

Instead, you have to send out mochu hagaki or postcards saying that you are in mourning and will not be able to participate. 

It is a way to let the people sending nengajo know not to send you any and to let them know that you won't be sending any out. The unwritten rule is that you need to send these mochu hagaki at the beginning of December. 

This is to give the people sending nengajo time to take you off their list for the year, but not to totally cross you off their list because you didn't send a card at all.

Normally when we send out nengajo, I design the cards and print them out on our computer with the names and addresses. Then I have Satoshi write a little message on each of his cards to give them a personal touch. 

This year since we needed to send a formal mochu hagaki, we got them printed. The mochu hagaki can only be in black and white with maybe some yellow but definitely no other colors like blue, red or pink, even the stamps need to be the mourning type. 

Since Satoshi works late during the week, we had to try to finish the cards on the weekend. So we spent several hours on Saturday night, writing the names and addresses of people that we normally send nengajo to. 

Instead of printing out the names and addresses by computer, I felt we should at least write the names and addresses by hand since we couldn't write any messages on the cards. 

Satoshi usually has more to send to than I do and was whining and moaning the whole time, "my handwriting sucks", blah blah blah. My list is usually shorter, so I finished my list of people then jumped in to help him. Since we won't be receiving any nengajo, this year's New Years will definitely be low-key.