New Year Cards in Japan: The 2027 Posting Dates Have Moved

In late December, Japan Post asks you to drop New Year cards, nengajo, into the postbox’s New Year slot rather than the ordinary one, and for cards dated 2027 the date that matters is Sunday 20 December 2026: post a New Year card between 20 and 27 December, and Japan Post aims to deliver it on Friday 1 January 2027.

Older guides give different dates. Until the 2026 cards, Japan Post began accepting New Year mail on 15 December and asked for it by 25 December. Its 2027 New Year card notice of 31 August 2026 moved both dates later, to match when people actually post. The change has a trap in it: a card posted on the old start date now arrives before New Year, not on it.

This guide is for anyone in Japan who wants to send a few cards to a landlord, a colleague, a host family or a friend. It covers the dates, what turns an ordinary postcard into New Year mail, where to post it, and the two delivery days that follow.

The 2027 dates: 20 December to 27 December

Japan Post accepts 2027 New Year cards from Sunday 20 December 2026 and asks you to post them by Sunday 27 December so they arrive on 1 January.

Both dates moved later in the 2027 New Year card notice. Japan Post says the later start will not delay delivery, and that it will work to deliver cards posted by 27 December on New Year’s Day.

One more reason to trust the notice over anything else you find: on 25 October 2026, Japan Post’s own FAQ on when it starts accepting New Year cards still showed the dates for the 2026 cards, 15 and 25 December 2025.

Posting too early now means arriving too early

A New Year card posted on or before Saturday 19 December 2026 is not held for New Year’s Day; it goes as ordinary mail and arrives within the year.

Japan Post spells this out in its 2027 New Year card notice: cards posted before acceptance starts are delivered within the year at the standard delivery times for ordinary mail. Anyone working from an older guide, or from habit, and posting on 15 December will have their cards arrive in December, not on 1 January.

What makes a card New Year mail

A card or letter becomes New Year mail when it carries the word 年賀 on the front: Japan Post’s New Year postcards have it printed below the stamp, and on anything else you write it clearly in red.

The rule sits in Japan Post’s Domestic Postal Terms (the version revised on 1 October 2026), Articles 146 to 149. They set out three details:

• It is not only for the official cards. New Year handling applies to ordinary postcards, to standard-size letters and to braille mail of standard size. A card in an envelope counts, as long as the envelope is standard size and 年賀 is written in red on the front.
• The red mark is the trigger. The terms ask for 年賀 written clearly in red somewhere easy to see on the front. If you post a stack of postcards at once, you can instead bundle them with a slip marked 年賀郵便 (New Year mail).
• The terms give a wider window than the notice. Article 146 sets the New Year mail window at 15 to 28 December and lets Japan Post push the start back by up to a week; the 2027 start, 20 December, is that push in action, and 27 December is Japan Post’s target for New Year’s Day delivery rather than the last day of the window.

Japan Post’s domestic postage list gives ¥85 for a postcard and ¥110 for a standard-size letter up to 50 g.

Japan Post’s list of 2027 card types prices the plain card and the inkjet card at ¥85, the charity card with an illustration at ¥90, of which ¥5 is a donation, and the regional advertising card at ¥80. The four-card sheets meant for printers must be cut into single cards before posting; Japan Post will not accept them as postcards otherwise. The initial print run is 555.93 million cards, down from 750 million for 2026.

Where to post it: the New Year slot

Drop New Year mail into the postbox’s New Year slot when there is one; the post office counter is not required.

The Domestic Postal Terms allow New Year mail to go into a postbox. On what happens if you use the wrong slot, Japan Post’s FAQ on the New Year slot says it checks ordinary mail for stray New Year cards when sorting, but asks you to use the New Year slot so the card arrives sooner and more reliably.

1. Buy the cards. Post offices sell 2027 New Year cards from 9:00 on Monday 2 November 2026 until Friday 15 January 2027, according to Japan Post’s 2027 New Year card notice.
2. Write both addresses. Japan Post’s notice asks for the recipient’s and the sender’s postcode, address and name, written accurately and clearly.
3. Check the red mark. On an ordinary postcard or a standard-size envelope, write 年賀 in red on the front.
4. Post between 20 and 27 December. Use the New Year slot if the postbox has one.

Delivery: 1 January and 3 January

Over the first three days of 2027, New Year cards are delivered on Friday 1 January and Sunday 3 January; 2 January is not one of the days.

The 2027 New Year card notice lists 1 January and 3 January as the New Year card delivery days, and adds that New Year mail and ordinary mail will be delivered on 3 January even though it is a Sunday. Under Article 146 of the terms, New Year mail goes out from the first delivery round on 1 January.

A card posted on 28 December is still New Year mail, because Article 146 holds for delivery from 1 January the mail accepted between the start date and 28 December, but it falls outside Japan Post’s 27 December target for New Year’s Day. A card posted from 29 December still goes, but no longer as New Year mail: a postcard marked 年賀 in red and posted from 29 December to 7 January has its printed stamp left without a postmark, and Japan Post’s FAQ on postmarks says it postmarks every New Year card posted from 8 January.

If you are in Japan over New Year for the first time, the cards are the easy part. Banks, offices and post office ATMs keep their own hours, which I cover in Japan’s New Year closures.

What I could not settle

Quick answers

Can I send a 2027 New Year card to someone abroad?

Yes, with ¥15 more in stamps. Japan Post’s page on sending New Year cards abroad says to stick ¥15 of stamps in a free space on the card, away from the writing, leave the lottery number and the printed 年賀 as they are, and write “AIR MAIL” and “POST CARD” on the address side. That brings an ¥85 card up to the ¥100 airmail postcard rate. The same page warns that New Year delivery on 1 January does not apply outside Japan, and that lottery prizes can only be claimed at post offices in Japan.

Should I bring last year’s leftover cards to swap for 2027 ones?

No. Japan Post’s FAQ on leftover cards says it will not exchange them for 2027 cards. It will exchange them for ordinary postcards or stamps for a fee of ¥6 per card.

I bought cards and then someone in my family died. Are the cards wasted?

No. Japan Post’s FAQ on free exchanges says it swaps unused New Year cards without a fee when the reason is mourning for a close relative, as long as you ask within the sales period, which ends on 15 January 2027.

Can I design and print cards without a printer?

Yes. Japan Post’s 2027 New Year card notice says its Hagaki Design Kit app goes live on 2 November 2026, and designs made in the smartphone version can be printed on the multi-copy machines in 7-Eleven stores. Japan Post’s own print service takes web orders until 18:00 on 15 January 2027.

Dates, prices and postal rules checked on 25 October 2026.

— ko, writing from Niigata