Happy New Year! Instead of the typical “Season’s Greetings” by Hallmark, we opted to send our family and friends, mostly in America, a Japanese nengajo. A nengajo is a postcard with a New Year greeting, and in Japan, they are delivered on January 1st. What I find fascinating about these cards is the elaborate system of the Japan Post lottery that accompanies them. Official printed post cards contain a lottery number on the bottom. To a televised audience, the winning numbers are selected and subsequently printed in the newspaper. The first prize for 2009 includes the winner’s choice of a 32-inch flat-panel LCD digital TV, a digital camera, a vacuum-pressure rice cooker and bags of different varieties of rice, a trip in Japan, a selection of household goods valued up to JPY200,000, and a massage chair. 2009 is the astrological year of the earth ox. An article in the Japan Times explains the complexity of the astrology that includes the Asian zodiac and the five elements: fire, water, wood, metal and earth. While this year is destined to be a year of hardship and economic clean-up, the dutiful and hard working characteristics of the methodical ox is bound to bring recovery, with a little hard work from mankind.
1 comment:
Happy New Year to you too! I have so enjoyed reading your blog over the holidays. You are so thoughtful--the posts are very entertaining! Wish we were in Hawaii with you!
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