In Japan, great effort is made to start the New Year on a positive note. People visit temples, shrines, friends and relatives, greeting all with:
"Akemashite omedetoo gozaimasu" - "Congratulations on the New Year or Happy New Year!" (This, by the way, is not said before New Year's Day.) "Honen mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu" - "Please treat me kindly this year, too" is added.
January First is a national holiday in Japan, although banks, government offices, and many businesses remain closed through the third. People visit friends during these holidays, and clients during the first days back at work to exchange the above greeting.
On a more formal occasion, or with a client, the speaker may say:
"Sakunen wa iroiro osewani narimashita" - "Thank you for being so good to me last year" between the two phrases above.
If you have colleagues you mainly correspond with by email (foreign employees of a Japanese company often fit into this category) you should start your first email of the year with the New Year greeting above. If you don't have a reason to write during the first half of the month, it would be constructive to make a reason by saying you just wanted to wish them a Happy New Year, but it would be nice to start your email with the greetings in Japanese. If you receive a card from someone to whom you didn't send one, you should send one in return as soon as possible.
These expressions are also written on New Year's cards called "Nengajoo" which are widely exchanged in Japan among friends, relatives, and business associates like Christmas cards are in the West. The majority of these are postal cards that contain a potentially valuable lottery number, but some people choose to create and send more individualized cards. Either way, they should be individually signed and addressed. The post office holds these postcards and painstakingly delivers them all on January First.
An important exception to this custom is when there has been a death in the immediate family. Upon the passing of a loved one, the family will send a card in black notifying acquaintances of the death, and informing them that, in keeping with custom, they will not be sending (and wish not to receive) New Year's greetings.
If you don't live in Japan but have Japanese customers, it would be good to send a general Holiday or New Year card in December. A New Year's card should not arrive before January First, and you can ensure that it doesn't by writing "Nenga" in red on the front of the envelope so the post office will hold it until the First. Because hierarchy is important, make sure that a superior doesn't receive the same card as his or her subordinates.
In Japanese companies, an informal New Year's meeting is held on the first day back at work and great effort is made to start the New Year on a positive note.
