Danica Davidson
January 4, 2023 
People around the world have different New Year’s traditions, and one in Japan is the New Year’s card referred to as a nengajo. In the previous New Year, Studio Ghibli, which had joined social media, shared their nengajo publicly on Twitter with an image Miyazaki had drawn of a tiger (since 2022 was the Year of the Tiger) 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, and Miyazaki was back with a new nengajo to celebrate.
For a little refresher, here is the tweet sent out last year for the Year of the Tiger.
新年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申し上げます。 pic.twitter.com/wwF4p3dk6h— スタジオジブリ STUDIO GHIBLI (@JP_GHIBLI) December 31, 2021
Here is the new one, and besides the new rabbit you can see some familiar faces.
あけましておめでとうございます。
宮﨑さんが描いた兎。
名前は、うーちゃん。
ふーちゃんという双子がいるそうです。本年も宜しくお願い申し上げます。 pic.twitter.com/W86BmQhmxe
— スタジオジブリ STUDIO GHIBLI (@JP_GHIBLI) December 31, 2022
2022’s nengajo also had a note written with it, and it simply said, “Happy New Year. Thank you for your continued support in the year.”
This time around, though, the note is a little more creative. It says, “Happy New Year. A rabbit drawn by Mr. Miyazaki. Its name is Uu-chan. It appears to have a twin named Fuu-chan. Thank you for your continued support in the year.”
SoraNews24 explains the word play behind this. First off, Uu-chan seems to be a shortening of Usagi-chan, and Usagi means “rabbit.” The twin’s name not only rhymes with Uu-chan’s name, but it also could be short for the Japanese words “futago” (which means “twin”) and “fuku” (which means “luck”).
Since it appears Miyazaki put some thought into creating these rabbit characters, only one of whom we’ve seen, fans in their excitement were quickly clamoring for more. Some of the online comments include:
“U-chan is cute but now I’m curious about Fuu-chan!”
“I wanna meet Fuu-chan!”
“I’d love to see U-chan’s twin Fuu-chan!”
“Where’s Fuu-chan?”
Miyazaki is not the only creative using social media for nengajo. For a little something extra, here’s what SPY x FAMILY creator Tatsuya Endo drew for his New Year’s celebration.
新年明けましておめでとうございます。
昨年はアニメ化でたくさんたくさんSPY×FAMILYを盛り上げて頂きました。
2023年もあれこれありますので、応援してくださる皆さまに楽しんで頂ける一年になればいいなーと思います。
のんびりと拙作にお付き合いくださると幸いです。
よろしくお願い致します。 pic.twitter.com/uy9pva0PRr— 遠藤達哉 (@_tatsuyaendo_) January 3, 2023
Source: SoraNews24
____
Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
Related Posts
