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Supporting my fav seniors #3 New Year’s Postcards Can Bring Productivity

 “New Year’s postcards (‘Nengajo’ in Japanese) will go on sale soon. But with the postal charge being raised, do you think fewer people will actually send them?

“We hear that more and more people have stopped sending Nengajo in the last few years. What do you think are the reasons for that?”

 

A couple of weeks ago, I got a phone call from a TV station asking these questions.

Having published a book on the practice of sending Nengajo (and stopping the practice) among senior citizens, I do get quite a few requests for interviews as a “Nengajo expert.”

 

Every time I get such inquiries, I would talk about the very fundamental question of “Why we send Nengajo.”

It is one way to catch up with people you care about but don’t get to see often anymore. You can send it if you like to stay in touch with them, and stop it if you see no need.

 

“I must send Nengajo because it’s the right thing to do.” Thinking like that only makes you feel exhausted and more burdened.

In particular, if you are an older adult, the chances are that you have fewer work-related obligatory relationships. You are free to send Nengajo only to those you like to stay in touch with and let them know you truly care.

 

There are no definite ways to stay connected. You can use a postcard, email, communication apps, etc., depending on the relationship you have with the other person.

Another tip I would give is: “Start by thinking about the relationships that are important to you right now.”

 

I have learned this idea from Mr. A, who has stopped sending Nengajo since his retirement.

The decision was made as Mr. A sorted through business cards before the retirement. He found that around 60% of the people he had sent Nengajo to were connected only through work. With the rest of them, including friends from his school day, he stayed in touch online.

 

“Well, actually, I still send hand-written Nengajo to three people who aren’t familiar with online communication: my former teacher who now lives in a care facility and two of my former supervisors in their 80s who helped me at work.”

“My supervisors’ social networks must be shrinking considering their ages. That gives me even more reason to show them my gratitude and a sense of connection, even through a small thing like Nengajo.”

 

When he told me that, what came to my imaginative mind was a lonely man, barely capable of walking, looking at Mr. A’s Nengajo with a big smile…

I couldn't help praising Mr. A and almost said, “You're so sweet! I admire you!” But right before that, he made a confession:

 

“To tell you the truth, it’s more to satisfy myself. I keep doing this because imagining their smiles makes me happy.”

That’s so true. As Mr. A grows older, he too loses connection with society. If sending Nengajo allows him to feel connected and share joy, that’s a wonderful thing to do.

 

Sending greeting cards at the end of the year is also common in other countries, and some research has shown that it can be an annoyance and source of stress.

But if sending cards can bring joy to both someone you care about and yourself, then you can call it an extremely productive activity, don’t you think?



<Reference>

Sawaoka, S. (2019). Kokai Shinai Nengajo Shukatsu no Susume (Regret-Free Updating of Your New Year’s Postcard Routine). Tokyo: Canaria Communications.


Shino Sawaoka

Associate Professor,

Dept. of Health Management,

Tokai University 

 zt1864@tokai.ac.jp

https://www.tokai-kenko.ac/

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