TOKYO: The custom of sending “nengajo” New Year greeting cards is gaining attention in Japan as the coronavirus epidemic prevents people from meeting during the holiday period.

A 26-year-old female company worker in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, said that she will write nengajo cards to her parents and grandparents in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, instead of sending a message via the Line chat app. She has decided not to visit them during the New Year’s holiday.

“It is the first time since I was a high school student for me to send nengajo cards,” she said. 

Her grandparents have saved every letter she has sent, including nengajo cards, since she was a child.

She will send one handwritten card each to her grandparents and parents for the New Year, with the traditional custom of greetings linking her with family at a time when they cannot meet in person.

Tsuyoshi Kumagai, 44, has created nengajo cards for his nephew and niece bearing illustrations from the “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” blockbuster manga series, hoping that the images will please them. In ordinary years, Kumagai, who lives in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, would see them in his hometown in neighboring Akita Prefecture.

According to Akira Iyoda, the 53-year-old head of Okazaki Shashinkan, a photo studio in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward, many people booked photo shoot sessions for their nengajo cards from mid-November. Some 30 groups took such photos at the studio, almost 50 pct more than at the same time in usual years.

Iyoda said that many people came to take photos because they did not have any family photos due to not being able to travel amid the epidemic.

A family of four from the capital’s Minato Ward who came to Okazaki Shashinkan were relieved to be able to record the children’s growth over the past year through photos taken at the studio.

“I believe many people were reminded of the importance of family during the coronavirus crisis,” Iyoda said. “Please send a special photo to loved ones.”

JIJI Press