Nengajyo , or New Year's cards, is an important tradition in Japan.

Even people who hardly ever send letters make an effort to post New Year's cards by Dec.20th. Nengajo is similar to Christmas cards in the West, though there is no religious significance.
Nengajo often use the present year's zodiacal animal as the design. The animal of the year 2009 is the Ox (Ushi).