New Years Postcard Lottery

New Years is Japan’s biggest holiday.  The holiday has many traditions in Japan.
One of the traditions is sending 年賀状 (New Years postcards).

One the back of Japanese New Years postcards, in the lower right-hand corner, is a six-digit number.
Every year in late January, the Japan Post Office has a New Years Postcard Lottery.

Yesterday was this years drawing.

The winning numbers for the 2010 年賀状 (New Years Postcard) lottery:

★ First Place (TV, computer, travel, digital camera or an office set)
– 975424

★ Second Place (Wii, digital camera, DVD player, TV)
– 259668,
– 446722, or
– 630838

★ Third Place (brand name merchandise)
– any number with the last four digits as 0977

★ Fourth Place (postage stamps)
– any number with the last two digits as either 00 or 52

★ “C” Prize (JTB ¥5,000 gift certificate)
– any number with the last five digits as 27520

There is also a Summer postcard lottery in Japan.
And I wrote a post about the New Years Postcard Lottery last year.

Did you get 年賀状 (Japanese New Years postcards) this year?
Do any of you cards have a winning lottery number?
I have three winning cards…all for postage stamps.

New Year Postal Lottery

As I mentioned in an early post (Click here to read it), Japanese people send 年賀状 (New Years Postcards) to friends and family.

On the back, in the lower right-hand corner, of every 年賀状 (New Years Postcards) is a six-digit number.

Every January, the Japan Post Office chooses random numbers for a kind of New Year Postal Lottery and if you received a 年賀状 (New Years Postcards) with one of the winning numbers, you can get a prize.

Yesterday, the winning numbers were announced.

Did you receive any Japanese 年賀状 (New Years Postcards)?
Check the number on the back to see if you’ve won. (If you have, bring the winning postcard to a post office to claim your present).

Here are the winning numbers for the 2009 lottery (of course, you can only win if you have a winning number on a 2009 年賀状 (New Years Postcards)):

• First Prize (Digital TV, Massage chair, Domestic (Japan) trip, Printer, Office goods, etc.)
  • 345898
• Second Prize (温泉 (Hot Springs) trip, Coffee maker, Digital camera, etc)
  • 663829
  • 908796
  • 028962
• Third Prize (Hotel stay, Coffee cake, etc)
  (Only the last four digits need to match):
  • 〇〇5070
• Fourth Prize (Sheet of postage stamps)
  (Only the last two digits need to match):
  • 〇〇〇〇94
  • 〇〇〇〇46
• “C group” (Panasonic garbage recycler, Bridgestone bicycle, Coleman camping set)
  • 882347
  • 223109

Did you win?

(BTW, Click here to visit the Japan Post page (in Japanese) that I found the winning numbers and prizes listed)