What is 引っ越しハガキ?


In the novel I'm reading now (「キッチン」 by 吉本{よしもと}ばなな) there is a passage about
moving house and preparing 引っ越しハガキ.

What is 引っ越しハガキ? I guess it's some kind of a note/postcard you prepare when
you move but can someone give a more detailed explanation, please? Is it to
notify people you know to let them know your new address?




Japan still sends a significant amount of mail by post, particularly
[年賀状{ねんがじょう}](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_New_Year#Postcards) (new
year postcards). A large portion of the population has a list of the addresses
of all the people they are supposed to send cards to each year.

When you move, you send a 引っ越しハガキ to let folks know what your new address is,
so that they can update their address in their list and make sure that there
is no unexpected 年賀状 delivery failures at New Year.

(It's generally just a simple postcard that says 'We've moved!' and 'stop by
if you're in the area!' or the like. If you buy a new apartment many companies
will give you a stack of postcards with a picture of the apartment and the
company that built it so that you can just use those to send to your friends
and save you some effort/give them some free exposure)

[![Sample Postcard](https://i.stack.imgur.com/d67dW.jpg)](http://blog-
imgs-24-origin.fc2.com/i/s/a/isa2staff/HN-204b.jpg)




Japan still sends a significant amount of mail by post, particularly
[年賀状{ねんがじょう}](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_New_Year#Postcards) (new
year postcards). A large portion of the population has a list of the addresses
of all the people they are supposed to send cards to each year.

When you move, you send a 引っ越しハガキ to let folks know what your new address is,
so that they can update their address in their list and make sure that there
is no unexpected 年賀状 delivery failures at New Year.

(It's generally just a simple postcard that says 'We've moved!' and 'stop by
if you're in the area!' or the like. If you buy a new apartment many companies
will give you a stack of postcards with a picture of the apartment and the
company that built it so that you can just use those to send to your friends
and save you some effort/give them some free exposure)

[![Sample Postcard](https://i.stack.imgur.com/d67dW.jpg)](http://blog-
imgs-24-origin.fc2.com/i/s/a/isa2staff/HN-204b.jpg)

