When I opened the mailbox the other morning, I received a few 年賀状（ねんがじょう） or “New Year's cards.”

New Years is a huge holiday in Japan, called お正月 (おしょうがつ), and sending new years cards is a practice that almost everyone participates in.

Usually the card will have a message, along with a drawing of the Chinese zodiac animal of the year (rooster!), or even pictures of the family. They became popular in the late 40’s when the post office started printing lottery numbers on the cards and offered the winners a small prize. The practice has continued, and you can win a pretty good sum of money if your lottery number is called.

When saving up all my New Year's cards, (because I want that prize money!) I realized that I couldn’t read a few of the fancy expressions that were written on some of them.

Most new year's cards have formal expressions about the new year. So let’s go over a few together and see if we can learn something!

あけましておめでとうございます。
Happy New Year.

This expression is pretty straightforward, as it is the general way to say “Happy New Year!” If you are saying it to close friends, it can be shortened to just あけおめ！

Now these next four phrases were the ones that I got confused about. Even though all of these have different kanji, they are all translated more or less as, “Happy New Year.” Of course, they each have their own nuance which is represented in the kanji.

謹賀新年
きんがしんねん
Happy New Year
This expression is made up of the kanji: “humble + congratulations + new + year”

恭賀新年　
きょうがしんねん
Happy New Year
This expression is made up of the kanji: “respect + congratulations + new + year”

賀正　
がしょう
Happy New Year
This expression is made up of the kanji: “congratulations + true”

迎春　
げいしゅん
New Year’s Greetings
This expression made up of the kanji: “welcome + spring”

As you can see, they all have slightly different meanings depending on the kanji they use. If you are receiving 年賀状 (ねんがじょう) this year, there is a good chance that one of these expressions will be on it.

Here are a few more greetings that are common on 年賀状.

今年もよろしくお願いします。
ことし　も　よろしく　おねがいします。
I look forward to working with [spending time with] you in the new year.
Literally: “this year + も + please be kind to me”

If you are familiar with the phrase よろしくお願いします, you will know it doesn’t really have a good English translation. It is kind of a cross between “thanks” and “I am sorry I am a pest.” Either way, this expression is pretty easy as well as it just adds “this year” to a phrase you may already know.

旧年中はお世話になりました。
きゅうねんちゅう　は　おせわになりました。
Thanks for taking care of me last year.
Literally: “during last year + は + taking care of me (=care + に + became)”

ご健勝とご多幸をお祈り申し上げます。
ごけんしょう　と　ごたこう　を　おいのり　もうしあげます。
I wish for your health and happiness.
Literally: “good health + と + great happiness + を + praying + do for”
Note: Because these are formal expressions ご is used before a lot of words, indicating politeness.

新年おめでとうございます｡　
しんねん　おめでとうございます。
Congratulations on a new year.
Literally: “new year + congratulations”

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Remember that a lot of these expressions are very formal, and most of them are not used in speech. But they are still a great way to learn some kanji and expressions you will most definitely see if you are in Japan for the new year. So to all our subscribers, あけましておめでとう！

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This lesson was written by Cassy L., a guest contributor: