{
  "id": 12496542,
  "title": "Year of the Sheep Postcards Arrive in Hokkaido",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/year-of-the-sheep-postcards-arrive-in-hokkaido",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-06T23:32:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "News On Japan",
    "slug": "news-on-japan",
    "url": "https://newsonjapan.com/article/150977.php"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Hokkaido's post offices received 130,000 New Year postcards on October 6, featuring sheep designs for the upcoming Year of the Sheep. This comes as the traditional New Year card market in Japan continues to decline due to the rise of social media and digital communication. The 2027 cards will also include a special Hokkaido edition with the shima-enaga, a white-faced long-tailed tit symbolizing the region. Hokkaido is set to sell just over 19 million New Year postcards this year, representing about 60% of the 2025 sales volume.",
  "summary": "New Year postcards for 2027 arrived at post offices across Hokkaido on October 6, with designs featuring sheep for the upcoming Year of the Sheep as Japan's traditional New Year card market continues to shrink. (News On Japan)",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}