Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word or phrase.

The end of December and the beginning of January are the (1) _______ times for the Japanese post offices. The Japanese have a custom of (2) ______ New Year’s Day postcards to their friends and relatives, similar (3) _______ the Western custom of sending Christmas cards. Their original purpose was (4) ______ your faraway friends and relatives tidings of yourself and your immediate family. In other words, (5) _______ custom existed for people to tell others whom they did not often meet that they were alive and well.

Japanese people send these postcards (6) ______ they arrive on 1th January. The post office guarantees to deliver the greeting postcards (7) ______ 1th January if they are posted within a time limit. To deliver these cards on time, the post office usually (8) ______ students part-time to help deliver the letters.

It is customary not to send these postcards when one has had a death in the family (9) _______ the year. In this case, a family member sends a simple postcard called mochi hagaki (mourning postcards) to inform friends and relatives they (10) _______ send New Year’s cards, out of respect for the deceased.

The end of December and the beginning of January are the (1) _______ times for the Japanese post offices.