In Japan it is customary to send New Year greetings cards (nengajō) to relatives, friends and colleagues. Decorated with special greetings and seasonal illustrations, nengajō are usually delivered on New Year’s Day.
Popular New Year card motifs include the zodiac animal associated with the coming year and symbolic New Year decorations such as kagami-mochi, usually made of two rice cakes topped with a Japanese bitter orange, and kadomatsu, made from pine and bamboo and often adorned with plum blossom.
Discover the meaning behind these traditions while decorating your own New Year card by downloading Japan House London’s worksheet. The worksheet includes a range of illustrations relating to the Japanese New Year which can be coloured in, cut out and used to adorn your original card. If you’re making a nengajō to welcome 2026, the zodiac symbol for the year is the horse.
We encourage everyone who downloads the worksheet to share their finished cards on Instagram and Facebook using #japanhouselondon and tagging us using @japanhouseldn.