Year-End and New Year Greetings at a Japanese Company

At a Japanese workplace, the end of the year has its own set of greetings. Before the break, thank people for the year with 本年も大変お世話になりました and wish them well with 良いお年をお迎えください; when work starts again in January, open with 明けましておめでとうございます、本年もよろしくお願いいたします. Emails to clients follow the same pattern and usually mention your office’s holiday dates. Most companies stop work around 28 December (仕事納め, shigoto osame) and restart around 4 January (仕事始め, shigoto hajime), with a year-end party (忘年会, bōnenkai) in December.

Key words

Saying goodbye before the break

On your last day, say this to your manager and colleagues:

• 今年も大変お世話になりました。来年もよろしくお願いいたします。(Thank you for all your help this year. I look forward to working with you next year.)
• 良いお年をお迎えください。(Have a good New Year.) With close colleagues, 良いお年を is enough.

Use 今年 in speech and 本年 in writing; both mean “this year”.

Year-end email to clients

件名：年末年始休業のお知らせ（株式会社〇〇）

〇〇株式会社
〇〇様

いつも大変お世話になっております。株式会社〇〇の△△です。
本年も格別のお引き立てを賜り、誠にありがとうございました。
誠に勝手ながら、弊社は12月26日（土）から1月3日（日）まで年末年始休業とさせていただきます。期間中にいただいたご連絡には、1月4日（月）以降、順次対応いたします。
来年も変わらぬご愛顧を賜りますよう、よろしくお願い申し上げます。
どうぞ良いお年をお迎えください。

It says, roughly: thank you for your business this year; we will be closed from 26 December to 3 January and will reply to messages from 4 January; we hope for your continued support next year; have a good New Year. Change the dates to match your own office. See Japanese business email.

First day back in January

• In person: 明けましておめでとうございます。本年もよろしくお願いいたします。
• In the first email to each client: 新年明けましておめでとうございます。旧年中は大変お世話になりました。本年もどうぞよろしくお願い申し上げます。
• New Year greetings are used until around 7 January (松の内, matsu no uchi), or mid-January in some regions. After that, go back to normal openings.

Some companies hold a short New Year speech by the president, and sales teams may visit clients to greet them in the first week. If someone in your client’s family has died that year, avoid celebratory New Year phrases; a simple 本年もよろしくお願いいたします is fine.

The year-end party

Bōnenkai means “forget-the-year party”. Join if you can, start with a toast (乾杯), and thank your manager the next day: 昨日はありがとうございました. See nomikai etiquette and business gifts and seasonal greetings.

How Hanabuddies can help

Our native Japanese tutors teach one-to-one online, in English, and can help you practise year-end greetings and check your holiday emails before you send them. We also translate business emails and seasonal letters, and for companies we offer business Japanese training for teams. See New Year in Japan for the holiday itself.