Ambassador Shikata visited Nengajyo 2026, Japanese New Year’s Postcard Exhibition
2025/12/22
On 11 December, Ambassador Shikata Noriyuki visited Nengajyo 2026, Japanese New Year’s Postcard Exhibition, held at ILHAM Gallery.
Organized by Mr. Lam Chin Foo, a Malaysian graduate of a Japanese university, the exhibition introduces nengajo (New Year’s greeting cards) and Japanese New Year traditions. It features hands-on nengajo card-making activities, displays of nengajo cards and New Year postage stamps, calligraphy experiences, and exhibitions of traditional New Year decorations.
In Japan, the New Year holiday is regarded as a particularly special occasion and is often considered one of the most important holidays of the year. There used to be a custom of inviting and visiting relatives, neighbors, and those who bestowed kindness over the preceding year during the first few days of the new year. But after the post office began issuing postcards in the Meiji period (1868-1912), people began sending these cards instead as a form of greeting.
Nengajo are New Year’s greeting cards sent to express gratitude for the past year and to convey best wishes for the year ahead to relatives, friends, and others. The introduction of this nengajo culture in Malaysia and the interest it has attracted can be seen as one form of cultural exchange, reflecting shared values between Japan and Malaysia in cherishing human connections.
Organized by Mr. Lam Chin Foo, a Malaysian graduate of a Japanese university, the exhibition introduces nengajo (New Year’s greeting cards) and Japanese New Year traditions. It features hands-on nengajo card-making activities, displays of nengajo cards and New Year postage stamps, calligraphy experiences, and exhibitions of traditional New Year decorations.
In Japan, the New Year holiday is regarded as a particularly special occasion and is often considered one of the most important holidays of the year. There used to be a custom of inviting and visiting relatives, neighbors, and those who bestowed kindness over the preceding year during the first few days of the new year. But after the post office began issuing postcards in the Meiji period (1868-1912), people began sending these cards instead as a form of greeting.
Nengajo are New Year’s greeting cards sent to express gratitude for the past year and to convey best wishes for the year ahead to relatives, friends, and others. The introduction of this nengajo culture in Malaysia and the interest it has attracted can be seen as one form of cultural exchange, reflecting shared values between Japan and Malaysia in cherishing human connections.