In Japan, it is customary to send sympathies in the summer and send New Year cards in the New Year. The purpose of the summer greeting is to make sure they are staying healthy in the hot-summer. Until now, it was common to send them by postcard, but recently, more and more people are sending via smartphone. Moreover, it is also a feature that it is now sent to an unspecified number of people on Facebook and Twitter, not to individuals. In Europe and America, it seems that there is no custom to send a greeting card in the summer, but there is a custom to send Greeting Cards to all occasions such as Christmas cards, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, birthday, marriage, childbirth, and entrance and graduation celebrations.

日本では、暑中お見舞いや年賀状を送る習慣があります。暑中見舞いは厳しい暑さに相手の安否を伺うために送ります。今まではもっぱら郵便局の葉書で出すのが習慣でしたが、最近はスマホで送る人も多くなりました。しかも個人宛てにではなく、FacebookやTwitterで不特定多数の人達に送る様になったのも特徴です。欧米では、暑中見舞いを送る習慣は無さそうですが、クリスマスカードをはじめ、バレンタイン、サンクスギビング、誕生日、結婚、出産、入学や卒業祝いなど、あらゆる機会にGreeting Cardsを送り合う習慣があります。