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Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes

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Japanese New Year wishes and Akemashite omedetou messages for Shogatsu, in English and Japanese: for family, friends, colleagues and New Year cards.

135 wishes · 2 languages · 3 photo designs · Updated October 2026

Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for family (11)

  • Happy New Year, family. I cannot wait for Mom's ozoni on the first morning.

  • Akemashite omedetou. May our family stay healthy and close all year.

  • Grandma, your osechi box is a work of art. Thank you, and Happy New Year.

  • Wishing our family a year as bright as the first sunrise.

  • The kadomatsu is up, the house is clean and we are together. Happy New Year.

  • Happy New Year from [Your name] and family. We will see you at the shrine.

See all 11: Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for family

Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for friends (11)

  • Akeome, my friend. Let us make this year our best one yet.

  • Happy New Year. Hatsumode together on the second?

  • May your omikuji say great luck and your year prove it right.

  • Happy New Year. Thank you for another year of friendship.

  • Wishing you a year of good food, good trips and good friends.

  • Happy Shogatsu. Save me some of your mom's black beans.

See all 11: Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for friends

Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for your loved one (10)

  • Happy New Year, my love. I want to see every first sunrise with you.

  • My wish at the shrine this year was the same as last year: more days with you.

  • Akemashite omedetou, darling. You make every season warm.

  • Let us eat ozoni together and plan our year of adventures.

  • Happy New Year to the one I want beside me for every one of them.

  • May our love grow stronger like the evergreen pine of the kadomatsu.

See all 10: Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for your loved one

Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for colleagues and boss (10)

  • Happy New Year. I look forward to working with you again this year.

  • Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu. Thank you for your support last year.

  • Wishing you a healthy and successful year ahead.

  • Happy New Year. I hope you had a restful holiday.

  • Thank you for everything last year. I look forward to your kind support this year too.

  • Happy New Year to the team. Let us make it a great year together.

See all 10: Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for colleagues and boss

Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for customers and clients (10)

  • Happy New Year. Thank you for your continued trust and support.

  • We look forward to serving you again this year. Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu.

  • Thank you for your business last year. We wish you a prosperous new year.

  • Happy New Year from all of us. We will reopen on 4 January.

  • Wishing our customers health and happiness in the new year.

  • Thank you for choosing us. We will keep working hard for you this year.

See all 10: Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for customers and clients

Funny Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes (10)

  • Happy New Year. My diet starts after the last piece of mochi. So, March.

  • I cleaned the whole house for the new year. Now I cannot find anything.

  • Happy Shogatsu. I drew middle luck at the shrine. Very middle. Like my cooking.

  • My new year goal: eat osechi slowly. Status: failed in four minutes.

  • Happy New Year. The kotatsu has captured me again. Send snacks.

  • I wrote 80 nengajo cards. My hand is now on holiday.

See all 10: Funny Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes

Short Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for status (10)

  • Happy New Year.

  • Akemashite omedetou.

  • Akeome.

  • A bright new year.

  • First sunrise, fresh start.

  • Great luck this year.

See all 10: Short Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for status

Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) blessings and prayers (10)

  • May the new year bring you good health, peace and great fortune.

  • May the gods of good luck smile on your home this year.

  • May your prayers at hatsumode be heard and your path be safe.

  • Wishing you a long life, like the crane and the tortoise.

  • May this year be calm, bright and full of quiet joys.

  • May every day of the new year be as pure as the first light.

See all 10: Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) blessings and prayers

Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for kids (10)

  • Happy New Year, little one. Here is your otoshidama envelope.

  • Let us fly kites in the park for the new year.

  • You did a great job helping clean the house. Happy New Year.

  • Happy New Year, sweetie. Can you find the shrimp in the osechi box?

  • Let us play karuta and spin the top together.

  • Happy New Year. What animal is on your nengajo this year?

See all 10: Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes for kids

Formal Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes (10)

  • With respectful New Year greetings, we thank you for your kindness last year.

  • We wish you and your family a happy and prosperous New Year.

  • Thank you for your support last year. We ask for your continued goodwill this year.

  • Please accept our best wishes for your health and success in the new year.

  • We extend our sincere New Year greetings to you and your organization.

  • May the new year bring prosperity to your company and happiness to your family.

See all 10: Formal Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes

Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes in Japanese (33)

  • あけましておめでとう。今年も家族みんな元気で過ごせますように。

  • お母さんのお雑煮、今年も楽しみにしています。

  • おばあちゃん、おせちありがとう。今年も長生きしてね。

  • 新年おめでとう。今年もみんなで初詣に行こうね。

  • 今年も家族仲良く、笑顔あふれる一年にしましょう。

  • あけましておめでとう。お正月に会えるのを楽しみにしています。

See all 33: Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes in Japanese

Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes images

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  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: First sunrise, fresh start.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: Wishing our family a year as bright as the first sunrise.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: 謹んで新春のお慶びを申し上げます。本年も変わらぬご愛顧をお願い申し上げます。
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: May your omikuji say great luck and your year prove it right.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: May every day of the new year be as pure as the first light.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: Let us eat ozoni together and plan our year of adventures.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: May the new year bring you good health and new achievements.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: あけましておめでとうございます。本年もどうぞよろしくお願いいたします。
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: You did a great job helping clean the house. Happy New Year.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: Happy New Year from all of us. We will reopen on 4 January.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: We wish you and your family a happy and prosperous New Year.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: First dream of the year: I forgot to send a nengajo to my boss.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: 新年あけましておめでとうございます。皆様のご健康をお祈りします。
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: Pine, bamboo and plum.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: Akemashite omedetou. May our family stay healthy and close all year.
  • Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) wishes image: Wishing you a year of good food, good trips and good friends.

About Shogatsu (Japanese New Year)

Shogatsu, or Oshogatsu, is the Japanese New Year, the most important holiday of the year in Japan. It is celebrated on 1 January, with the first three days, called sanganichi, the main holiday.

Before the new year, families clean their homes from top to bottom and put up kadomatsu of pine and bamboo by the door and kagami mochi rice cakes inside. On New Year's Eve, temple bells ring 108 times and families eat toshikoshi soba.

On New Year's Day people eat osechi, beautiful boxed dishes, and ozoni soup with mochi, visit a shrine or temple for hatsumode, the first prayer of the year, and read the nengajo New Year cards that arrive that morning. Children receive otoshidama, gifts of money in small envelopes.

How people celebrate Shogatsu (Japanese New Year)

  • Osechi and ozoni with mochi
  • Hatsumode: first shrine or temple visit
  • Nengajo New Year cards
  • Otoshidama for children
  • Kadomatsu and kagami mochi
  • Watching the first sunrise (hatsuhinode)
  • Joya no kane: 108 bell rings

How to wish well

  • Before 1 January, say "Yoi otoshi wo" (Have a good year end). From 1 January, say "Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu".
  • For colleagues and customers add "Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu" (I look forward to your kind support this year too).
  • Families in mourning do not send or receive New Year greetings; they send a short mourning card in December, so send a gentle winter greeting instead.
  • Nengajo cards are usually written with the zodiac animal of the new year.

Questions about Shogatsu (Japanese New Year)

When is Japanese New Year?

On 1 January. The first three days of January are the main holiday, and many offices close from about 29 December to 3 January.

How do you say Happy New Year in Japanese?

"Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu" (あけましておめでとうございます). Friends say the short "Akeome".

What is nengajo?

Japanese New Year postcards. People post them in December and the post office delivers them all on the morning of 1 January.

What do Japanese people eat at New Year?

Osechi ryori, colourful boxed dishes with wishes for long life and good luck, and ozoni, a soup with mochi rice cakes. On New Year's Eve, toshikoshi soba noodles.

What is hatsumode?

The first visit of the year to a shrine or temple, to pray for health and luck in the new year.

What is otoshidama?

New Year money that parents and relatives give children in small decorated envelopes.

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