This page is general information from official sources (Japan Post). For your own case, ask a post office.
New Year’s cards (nengajo) are a Japanese custom: people send postcards to friends, relatives and colleagues so that they arrive on January 1. The 2027 New Year’s postcards (nenga hagaki) went on sale at post offices and other outlets at 9:00 on Monday, November 2, 2026. A plain card is ¥85. Japan Post’s online shop takes orders earlier, from Monday, October 26. This year the schedule changed. Mailing as a New Year’s card starts on Sunday, December 20, the guide date for delivery on January 1 is Sunday, December 27, and sales run until Friday, January 15, 2027.
In short
- On sale since Nov 2, 2026 (9:00). Plain card ¥85, ad-supported ¥80, charity picture card ¥90.
- To arrive on January 1, mail by Sunday, December 27.
- Cards mailed on or before Saturday, December 19 are not treated as New Year’s cards and are delivered in the normal number of days, before the year ends.
- Online shop orders: October 26 to January 13. Printing service on the web: until 18:00 on January 15.
Checked with official pages on October 18, 2026 (Japan time).
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1. 2027 New Year’s postcards: sale date, sale period and mailing dates for January 1 delivery
The cards went on sale on Monday, November 2, 2026 at 9:00, and sales continue until Friday, January 15, 2027. Japan Post announced this on August 31, 2026 (Japan Post announcement (PDF, in Japanese)). The last day of sales is later than the usual date of about January 10.
The start of New Year’s card mailing moved from December 15 to Sunday, December 20, and the guide date for delivery on January 1 moved from December 25 to Sunday, December 27. Cards mailed by Saturday, December 19, before mailing opens, are not handled as New Year’s cards and arrive in the usual number of days, within the year. If you do not want a card to arrive on January 1, for example when you enter a prize draw, cross out the word 年賀 (nenga) below the stamp mark with a double line before mailing. New Year’s mail is also delivered on Sunday, January 3.
| Date | What you can do | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, Oct 26, 2026 | Online shop orders opened | Until Wed, Jan 13, 2027 |
| Mon, Nov 2, 2026 | Over-the-counter sales started | From 9:00. Until Fri, Jan 15, 2027 |
| Sun, Dec 20, 2026 | New Year’s card mailing starts | Cards mailed earlier are handled as normal mail |
| Sun, Dec 27, 2026 | Guide date for delivery on January 1 | Used to be December 25 |
| Fri, Jan 15, 2027 | Sales end | Web printing orders until 18:00 |
2. Prices and types (plain ¥85, ad-supported ¥80, charity ¥90)
The basic plain card is ¥85, the ad-supported card is ¥80, and the charity picture card is ¥90. The first print run is 560 million cards, about 74.3% of last year’s 750 million. All types use FSC-certified paper.
| Type | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Plain | ¥85 | The embossed type costs the same |
| Plain (4-card sheet) | ¥340 | 4 cards joined in a square, for mass printing. Cut apart before mailing |
| Inkjet paper | ¥85 | For home printers |
| Charity picture card | ¥90 | ¥5 per card goes to charity |
| Ad-supported | ¥80 | 5 designs, each sold only in certain regions |
Charity picture cards come in a national version and regional versions (23 designs), and regional versions are sold only in some areas. Ad-supported cards are also regional and cannot be bought everywhere in Japan. New Year’s stamps are ¥85 (sticker type, sold singly) and ¥110 (glue type), each with a charity version, and were issued on the same day, November 2. The New Year’s prizes are ¥300,000 in cash (1st), a catalog gift (2nd) and a New Year’s stamp sheet (3rd).
3. Where to buy (post office counter, online shop, convenience store printing)
New Year’s postcards are sold at post offices and other outlets across Japan. If you buy at a post office counter (including the Yuyu counter, but not small post offices or sales agents), you qualify for a purchaser bonus drawing for “Yuyu Points”. Japan Post says it will announce the details later.
To buy without going to the counter, use Japan Post’s online shop, Stamp and Postcard Store (Japanese). Orders are in sets of 10 from October 26, 2026 to January 13, 2027. Plain cards (except the embossed and 4-card types), inkjet paper, charity picture cards and some ad-supported cards are available. Shipping is ¥360 by Yu-Packet or ¥720 by Yu-Pack (tax included), and free if the order for one delivery address is ¥5,000 or more.
At convenience stores, you can print a design from a Seven-Eleven multi-copy machine with “Convenience Store Postcard Print”. It works with designs made in the smartphone app “Hagaki Design Kit”. The general New Year’s card site Yubin Nenga.jp (Japanese) was planned to open on November 2, 2026.
4. Pre-printed cards and the printing service deadlines
“Otegaru Nenga Hagaki” (easy New Year’s cards) are pre-printed with a picture and greeting, so you only add a short note. They come in packs of 5 or 3, with zodiac, character and regional designs, and Disney designs have increased this year. They went on sale on November 2 at post offices across Japan (except some post offices and small post offices).
The “New Year’s card printing service” lets you choose from about 210 designs and have your address and name printed. The catalog for New Year’s card and mourning card printing ordered at a post office counter closes on Wednesday, December 23, and the web “Post Office Print Service” accepts orders until 18:00 on Friday, January 15, 2027 (Post Office Print Service, Japanese). Printing recipients’ addresses is a paid option.
To compare online card-printing shops, you can search on Rakuten Ichiba. Search for New Year’s card printing on Rakuten Ichiba (ad)
5. Templates for people who want to keep sending cards
In its August 31, 2026 announcement, Japan Post also calls on people thinking of giving up the custom (nengajo-jimai) to keep sending cards this year. As ways to make it easier, it says it will offer templates with a “Nengajo Tsunagi” logo, a stamp and templates saying “I’m not giving up New Year’s cards”, and free templates on Yubin Nenga.jp. The site also adds templates for business (“meishi nenga”), for children (coloring-in cards) and for writing New Year greetings in dialect, and a project using Google’s Gemini is planned.
The printing service for winter greeting cards (kanchu mimai, sent after the New Year period) accepts orders from Monday, November 2, 2026 to Friday, January 15, 2027.
6. Contact for New Year’s postcards
For questions about sales or delivery, call Japan Post’s Customer Service Center: 0120-23-28-86 (toll-free), or 0570-046-666 from mobile phones (call charges apply). Open every day 8:00–21:00.
Prices and business hours are subject to change.
Sources
5 pages we checked
Checked with official pages on October 18, 2026 (Japan time).
