13th annual Nengajo New Year's Card Contest

Now - January 16

The JICC is pleased to announce our 13th annual Nengajo New Year's Card Contest! 2024 will be the Year of the Dragon (辰年), so nengajo designs must include a Dragon, the kanji for Dragon (辰) found on the Zodiac animal calendar or eto, and the year 2024 (or Reiwa 6/令和六年 in the Japanese calendar). This year's contest will be divided into 3 categories: junior (0-11), youth (12-17), and adult (18+) divisions. There will be one grand prize winner and one runner-up from each category. In addition, honorable mentions will be chosen for the categories of Most Creative, Most Traditional, and JICC Staff Favorite designs. Designs will be judged by JICC and Embassy of Japan staff.

The three grand prize winning designs will be sent out to the JICC's mailing list as the official New Year's greeting. The three winners will receive a fukubukuro—a customary Japanese grab-bag of goodies to celebrate the New Year. Along with the winners, runners-up and honorable mentions will be displayed on the JICC website and in-person at the JICC's Oshōgatsu, or Japanese New Year, event held in late January. For a chance to be featured on the JICC's Instagram stories, use the hashtag #2024JICCNengajo.

※An Important Note for Teachers (先生方へのお願い): We are grateful to the teachers who use this competition as an extra credit opportunity for their students. As interest in the JICC Nengajo Contest has grown, the JICC staff humbly request that teachers submit student entries together as a class so as to ensure compliance with competition rules, especially those regarding file formatting. Please contact us at jicc@ws.mofa.go.jp to coordinate a class submission. Of course, this is not a requirement and individual student entries will still be accepted!

To learn more about the tradition of nengajo, click here.

For official rules and how to enter, click here.