How to Say Happy New Year in Japanese: Akemashite Omedetō, Yoi O-toshi o, Akeome

Before midnight: yoi o-toshi o

From about the middle of December, Japanese people start ending conversations with yoi o-toshi o. The full sentence is yoi o-toshi o o-mukae kudasai, please greet a good new year, and the short form drops everything after the particle o. It is said to anyone you probably will not see again before 1 January: colleagues on the last working day, the staff at your usual café, neighbours, a friend leaving a party. It replaces goodbye rather than being added to it.

The polite form is fine for everyone. With close friends it becomes yoi o-toshi o ne, and some people add mata rainen, see you next year. If you are the one being wished, reply with the same phrase, or with the slightly more formal kochira koso, yoi o-toshi o. Notice that yoi o-toshi o is never used after the year has turned; on 1 January it would sound as though you had missed the change.

After midnight: akemashite omedetō gozaimasu

Akemashite comes from akeru, to open or to dawn, and the greeting congratulates the person on the new year having opened. It is said the first time you meet or contact someone in the new year, whether that is at midnight, at a shrine on 1 January or in the office on the first working day. It is almost always followed by kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu, please treat me well this year too, which does the same job that yoroshiku onegaishimasu does after a first meeting: it closes the greeting and looks forward.

The reply is the same greeting back, and the two halves often overlap, with both people saying omedetō gozaimasu at the same time and then bowing. Among family and friends the polite ending drops: akemashite omedetō, kotoshi mo yoroshiku. Between very close friends it shrinks further to omedetō alone, since the context is obvious. There is no need to say shinnen, new year, in speech; the phrase already means that.

How long the greeting lasts

Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu is not said all January. The customary window is matsu no uchi, the period while pine decorations stand at the door, which ends on 7 January in most of Japan and around 15 January in parts of Kansai. Within that window you say the full greeting to everyone you meet for the first time that year. After it, the greeting starts to feel late, so people soften it. Osoku narimashita ga, akemashite omedetō gozaimasu, belated happy new year, is fine into mid-January, and beyond that most people simply say kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu on its own.

The important point is that the greeting is triggered by the first meeting of the year, not by the date. If you see a colleague every day from 4 January, you say it once, on that day, and not again. If you first see a client in late January, you skip the greeting and go to the yoroshiku line, perhaps with a reference to the year having started.

Casual shortcuts: akeome and kotoyoro

Young people and close friends compress the long greeting into akeome, from akemashite omedetō, and kotoyoro, from kotoshi mo yoroshiku. Together, akeome kotoyoro is the standard New Year text between friends, often sent just after midnight with a sticker. It is playful rather than lazy, and it marks the sender as someone inside your casual circle. Some people write it in katakana, アケオメ, for an even lighter feel.

The shortcut is for friends and peers only. Sending akeome to a teacher, a manager or a client reads as careless, and even to older relatives it can look flippant. In a group chat that mixes friends and seniors, the full akemashite omedetō gozaimasu is the safe choice. Replies match the register: akeome gets akeome back, and kotoyoro gets kochira koso or a sticker.

The first day back at work

The first working day of the year, shigoto hajime, often begins with a round of greetings. You say akemashite omedetō gozaimasu and kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu to each colleague the first time you see them, senior people first if you have the choice, and sometimes the whole office does it together at a short morning gathering. Some companies hold a formal New Year assembly where the president speaks; you listen, bow at the end, and greet the people around you afterwards.

A common addition for colleagues is kyūnen-chū wa o-sewa ni narimashita, thank you for your help last year, which fits between the two halves of the greeting. To clients, whether by phone, email or visit, the same three-part structure works, with honnen replacing kotoshi for a more formal ring. If your workplace prefers otsukaresama desu after the New Year gathering, follow the local habit.

Messages and nengajō lines

New Year cards, nengajō, follow a fixed structure, and the same lines work in a New Year email or message. The header is a greeting, either the full sentence or a short set phrase in kanji. Then comes thanks for the past year, then a request for goodwill in the new one, then a wish for the reader's health or happiness, and finally the date, often written as gantan, New Year's Day, with the year. The table gives the pieces so you can assemble a card or a message at the right formality.

One rule of card etiquette: do not put the full akemashite omedetō gozaimasu next to kinga shinnen, because both are complete greetings and the pair reads as a repetition. Choose one header, then the thanks and the goodwill line.

Choosing the right form at a glance

When you are not sure which phrase fits, run through this list. It is organised by the moment and the person, which are the two things that decide the greeting.

• Late December, anyone: yoi o-toshi o, with o-mukae kudasai for politeness
• Midnight to 7 January, colleagues and seniors: akemashite omedetō gozaimasu, kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu
• Same period, friends and family: akemashite omedetō, kotoshi mo yoroshiku
• Text to a friend: akeome kotoyoro, with a sticker if you like
• First day back at work: the full greeting plus kyūnen-chū wa o-sewa ni narimashita
• Clients and formal email: honnen mo yoroshiku onegai itashimasu
• Mid-January onwards: osoku narimashita ga before the greeting, or just the yoroshiku line
• Someone in mourning: skip omedetō and say kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu only

The last item matters. A household that has lost a family member during the year sends a mochū hagaki in advance to say it will not exchange New Year greetings, and people avoid omedetō with them. If you receive one, reply after the New Year period with a quiet card or simply the yoroshiku line in person.

Mistakes to avoid at New Year

The classic mistake is saying akemashite omedetō gozaimasu on 31 December. Japanese people will understand, but it sounds like congratulating someone on a race they have not yet run. The mirror mistake is saying yoi o-toshi o on 2 January. A second common slip is dropping kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu; without it the greeting feels cut short, because the second half is what makes it a wish rather than an announcement.

Third, sending akeome to the wrong person. It is a friend-to-friend shortcut, and it does not become polite by adding gozaimasu. Fourth, repeating the greeting to the same person every day of the first week; once is the rule. Finally, using omedetō with someone in mourning. If you are unsure whether a colleague has had a bereavement, the neutral kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu is always safe, and it is also the phrase to use once the window has closed.