明けましておめでとうございます！The lovely and talented Alissa Berdahl submitted the winning nengajo design! We got so many submissions we had to open another category for Youth, to which the winning prize went to Austen Maybee (age 14). We loved seeing the creativity in our community and will definitely host this contest in future years. Thank you all for your submissions!

Alissa Berdahl, Winning Design (Adult)
You can see more of Alissa’s work on Instagram: @berdahrt

Austen Maybee (age 14), Winning Design (Youth)

JASC is holding its 1st ever Nengajo Contest! In keeping with Japanese tradition, JASC sends a New Years Card out to all our members, supporters and friends on January 1st. This year, we'd like to get some help from our community. A winning design will be chosen and that nengajo will be sent out to our JASC community on behalf of JASC with credit awarded to the artist for the design. The artist will receive a one year JASC Family Level Membership ($75 value) and a $30 gift card to Pacific Mercantile at Sakura Square!

• Deadline: December 19, 2021

• Must:

  • be original artwork

  • include some form of the standard Japanese New Year greeting: 明けましておめでとうございます。

  • include the zodiac animal of 2022 (the year of the tiger!)

  • be submitted in its original format and PDF, JPG or PNG

• Submissions (and questions) should be sent to: info@jascolorado.org

We can't wait to see what you've got! Happy designing!

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Just as holiday greetings or cards are exchanged in the West, nengajo, or New Years postcards are exchanged in Japan. Nowadays, although many nengajo are digitially sent, the Japan Post still delivers about 4 billion each New Years Day. In keeping with the Japanese cultural value of timeliness, nengajo are delivered ON New Years Day- not a second before or after. Click here to read more about the history of this cultural tradition.

It is our pleasure to inform you that JASC is now accepting applications for the Rikai Scholarship for spring 2022 study abroad programs. If you are interested in applying or sharing this opportunity with others, please find more details on our Rikai Scholarship webpage. The application deadline for all materials is Nov. 30, 2021.