Japan Post Service, one of the companys created with the privatized version of the nation’s Post Office, is teaming upwith communication giant KDDI to make it possible for people to send their New Year’s cards by cellphone e-mail.

Customers can design cards using cellphone text messaging, then e-mail their card, along with the receiver’s e-mail address, to KDDI Corp.

The post office will then print the card and deliver it to the receiver’s postal address as registered with KDDI.

Only KDDI subscribers can send the greetings to each other.

The service fee will be a few dozen yen per copy, excluding the card fee. Japan Post Group expects 10 million cards to be ordered.

“The New Year’s card can be made with a sense young people like. Also, the cards will be preserved for many years,” postal company officials said.

Also, Japan Post Network Co. will adopt printing services at its 24,000 offices across the country for the first time.

Sending New Year’s cards is a big event in Japan and a major pain. Though there have been various technological advances that help to take some of the work out of sending cards each year, there are still plenty of people here who prefer to write each card they send out by hand.