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Japan rethinks tradition of New Year's cards as inflation persists
MAINICHI
| Januari 1, 2025
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TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A growing number of Japanese people appear to be breaking with the country's tradition of sending New Year's greeting cards, as rising prices of daily goods are forcing them to cut back on spending.
Japanese businesses, too, are switching to digital format and doing away with the drudgery of preparing traditional paper postcards, a change that can help them cut costs and save labor in one of the busiest seasons of the year.
After a price hike in October, a basic New Year's postcard costs 85 yen ($0.5), up from 63 yen for the previous year. Japan Post Co. set its initial issuance of the greeting cards to 1.07 billion, down over 25 percent from a year earlier. It was the 14th straight year of decline.
In an online survey asking 5,000 people, aged between 15 and 79, to list items or services they plan to trim their budgets on heading into 2025, New Year's cards ranked first at 10.8 percent.
Lucky bags, which keep shoppers guessing what is inside until they purchase them, and other New Year's items came second, followed by dining out, according to research firm Intage Inc.
Japan's inflation remains elevated staying above 2 percent for over two and a half years, a rare phenomenon for a country that has struggled for years to end deflation.
The decline in demand for postcards in sending seasonal greetings to friends, colleagues, clients and others, coincides with the greater use of messaging apps, social media and other digital means.
Nearly half, or 49.4 percent, of around 1,340 companies surveyed by another research firm Teikoku Databank Ltd., said they have decided to stop sending New Year cards. An additional 8 percent are planning to do so for 2026.
The survey points to companies still divided over what to do with the tradition.
"Other companies are saying they will stop sending New Year's cards. We have also informed them that we will use social media instead," one of the firms in the survey said. Another said, "It's rooted in Japanese culture and irreplaceable.
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