One of the things that I look forward to in postcrossing is receiving lovely cards from Japan. It seems like the country got the lion share of everything kawaii {did you know that even sewer covers are a thing of beauty in this country?!}.

For a while now, I have been getting these beautiful New Year’s Day postcards from a friend in Fukushima. She sends the most colorful and beautiful cards. For 2017’s Year of the Rooster, she sent me this lovely rooster card. Ain’t she a pretty?

Did you know that it is customary for Japanese people to send New Year’s Day postcards? In fact, the end of December and the beginning of January are the busiest times for the Japanese post offices as people send nengajō to their friends and relatives. According to Wikipedia, the original purpose of this tradition was to give faraway friends and relatives tidings of themselves and their immediate family and tell others whom they did not often meet that they were alive and well.

Japanese people send these postcards so that they arrive on 1 January. The post office guarantees to deliver the greeting postcards on 1 January if they are posted within a time limit, from mid-December to near the end of the month and are marked with the word nengajō. To deliver these cards on time, the post office usually hires students part-time to help deliver the letters.

It was a beautiful tradition, right, something that every postcrosser will appreciate. I sure love the thought that went into sending this colorful card to me. Thank you so much, Mommy Clang, and I sure hope you got the Christmas card I sent soon.

Meanwhile, I am getting a bunch of cards ready to be posted on my next post office visit. Tradition or not, I would love to help keep snail mail alive in the Philippines with my little contribution. I will be preparing my postcards as soon as I am done writing all about the guitar center virginia.

Happy New Year to all! May this year brings us many surprises in the mail and more reasons to travel and explore the world! ^_^