Nengajo

     Nengajos are a cute way to share the spirit of the holiday. It's a lot more than what one might do for New Year's anyway. When it comes to New Year's, most people just stay home and wait until midnight while watching the New Year count on the TV. If you're lucky to have the money (or just live close enough to a spot) to see an in-person count you can do so. In the States, that's about the most out-there thing you can do. You spend the time indoors and with your family. In Japan, it's a much bigger deal. cards and gifts and there's still a party that is in celebration of the holiday. A lot of Japanese holidays seem a lot more special to me because of how big the celebrations are. The thought of receiving a gift for New Year's is weird to me but that's only because I'm used to not receiving one. 

     

    The words on the side of the nengajo are my preferred first and last name and the symbol that the dragon is holding means dragon, specifically the zodiac version of the dragon since it is the year of the dragon. I chose this one because I like the zodiac wheel a lot and wanted to use it. The bottom text says the year and the date as well as Happy New Year. The cherry blossoms are also a traditional symbol for Japanese Nengajo. I'm not used to writing the hiragana, more so used to typing it so it was fun to get used to that curvy way of writing. I'm a bit more comfortable with writing short sentences and words. The Nengajo card, in general, was fun to make, I might give it to one of my friends who can read Japanese.