New Year Postcards Japanese Style

I'm starting this swap since Autumn Moon's swap with the same name has been cancelled. The swap got me thinking of some ideas for cards; I was sorry to see it go, and maybe other folks were, too.

As I learned from Autumn Moon, in Japan there is a tradition of sending nengajo--postcards specifically for New Year's Day. So let's participate in this tradition ourselves!

You can buy or make your cards, but please try to have them reflect the spirit of nengajo in some way. For instance, they could incorporate a Japanese image (or Japanese-inspired image) or include a haiku.

If you Google "nengajo" you can learn more about Japanese New Year postcards and their history. If you do a Google image search you'll find a lot of examples.

Autumn Moon's swap had a fairly large number of swap partners; I'll put it at 10--so we each get a variety of cards!

It's the sender's preference whether or not to send the postcard in an envelope. People who decide to send handmade or delicate cards may want to use an envelope, and that's okay--as long as it doesn't fold like a greeting card it counts as a postcard for the purposes of this swap!

The fine print: 1) No newbies allowed for this one (sorry--but there's plenty of time to get ratings beforehand). 2) Swappers with a rating below 4.8 (rounding to the nearest tenth) will be dropped before partners are assigned. 3) This is an international swap!