{"id":9105,"date":"2025-07-30T06:03:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T18:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/?p=9105"},"modified":"2025-07-30T06:03:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T18:03:24","slug":"how-to-say-happy-holidays-in-japanese-festive-greetings-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/how-to-say-happy-holidays-in-japanese-festive-greetings-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Say “Happy Holidays” in Japanese: Festive Greetings Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/p>\n

Hey there, holiday lovers! It’s your Holiday Little Assistant back with some festive wisdom. Today we’re tackling a question that pops up every December: How do you say “Happy Holidays” in Japanese?<\/b> Whether you’re writing cards to Japanese friends or just love learning cultural greetings, I’ve got you covered!<\/p>\n

The Basics: Japanese Holiday Greetings<\/h2>\n

Unlike English’s blanket “Happy Holidays,” Japanese has specific phrases for different celebrations. During Christmas season (which is more romantic than religious in Japan), you’ll hear “\u30e1\u30ea\u30fc\u30af\u30ea\u30b9\u30de\u30b9” (Merii Kurisumasu)<\/b> \u2013 yep, just like English but with a Japanese accent! For New Year’s, the go-to is “\u3042\u3051\u307e\u3057\u3066\u304a\u3081\u3067\u3068\u3046\u3054\u3056\u3044\u307e\u3059” (Akemashite omedet\u014d gozaimasu)<\/b>, which roughly means “Congratulations on the new year.”<\/p>\n

When to Use Each Phrase<\/h2>\n

Timing matters! Kurisumasu works from mid-December through Christmas Day, while Akemashite kicks in after December 31st. Between December 26-31? That’s tricky \u2013 Japanese folks often use “\u826f\u3044\u304a\u5e74\u3092” (Yoi otoshi o)<\/b>, meaning “Have a good new year.” Pro tip: Combine them! Many Japanese emails in late December will say “Merry Christmas and Yoi otoshi o!”<\/b> to cover both holidays.<\/p>\n

Writing vs. Speaking<\/h2>\n

Those squiggly characters matter! While “Merii Kurisumasu” is often written in playful katakana (\u30e1\u30ea\u30fc\u30af\u30ea\u30b9\u30de\u30b9), New Year’s greetings typically use kanji (\u660e\u3051\u307e\u3057\u3066\u304a\u3081\u3067\u3068\u3046\u3054\u3056\u3044\u307e\u3059). If you’re sending physical cards (called “nengaj\u014d”), the handwritten touch means a lot. For digital wishes, cute emojis like \ud83c\udf84 or \ud83c\udf8d (kadomatsu bamboo decoration) add festive flair!<\/p>\n

Bonus Holiday Vocab<\/h2>\n

Want to level up? Try these:
\n– \u5e74\u672b\u5e74\u59cb (nenmatsu nenshi)<\/b> = “year-end and New Year period” (great for work emails)
\n– \u3054\u99b3\u8d70\u69d8 (gochis\u014dsama)<\/b> = said after holiday meals (like “Thanks for the feast!”)
\n– \u51ac\u4f11\u307f (fuyuyasumi)<\/b> = winter vacation (used by students December-January)<\/p>\n

Cultural Heads-Up<\/h2>\n

Remember, Japan’s big holiday is New Year’s (similar to Western Christmas), while actual Christmas is more like Valentine’s Day \u2013 couples exchange gifts and eat KFC (seriously, it’s a tradition!). Buddhist temples ring bells 108 times on New Year’s Eve to cleanse sins. Cool, right?<\/p>\n

So there you have it \u2013 now you can spread holiday cheer Japanese-style! Whether you’re texting a friend in Tokyo or just impressing your family with language skills, these phrases will bring smiles. \u30e1\u30ea\u30fc\u30af\u30ea\u30b9\u30de\u30b9 and \u3042\u3051\u307e\u3057\u3066\u304a\u3081\u3067\u3068\u3046\u3054\u3056\u3044\u307e\u3059 from your Holiday Little Assistant!<\/p>\n

Faqpro Thank you for reading! Now you’re ready to wish everyone happy holidays like a true Japanophile. Got more questions about global holiday traditions? Hit me up \u2013 I live for this stuff!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey there, holiday lovers! It’s your Holiday Little Assistant back with some festive wisdom. Today we’re tackling a question that pops up every December: How do you say “Happy Holidays” in Japanese? Whether you’re writing cards to Japanese friends or just love learning cultural greetings, I’ve got you covered! The Basics: Japanese Holiday Greetings Unlike…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9104,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"How to Say \"Happy Holidays\" in Japanese: Festive Greetings Explained - Public Holiday Calendar","description":"Hey there, holiday lovers! It's your Holiday Little Assistant back with some festive wisdom. Today we're tackling a question that pops up every December: How do"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[278],"tags":[2243,1378,9088,2246,9089],"class_list":["post-9105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-happy-holidays-in-japanese","tag-how-to-say-happy-holidays","tag-japanese-holiday-phrases","tag-japanese-new-year-greetings","tag-merry-christmas-japanese"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9106,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9105\/revisions\/9106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}