TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Japan’s chief representative in Taiwan, Izumi Hiroyasu (泉裕泰), put on a tiger suit to wish Taiwanese a Happy New Year on his office’s Facebook account Saturday (Jan. 1).

Though the Year of the Tiger will not start until Feb. 1, according to the Lunar New Year calendar, Izumi followed Japanese tradition by writing a message of best wishes for 2021, CNA reported.

While e-mail has now largely replaced this tradition, the representative of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA) insisted on writing his message by hand.

His office explained some other Japanese new year customs, including the importance of the first dream of the year as a portent of later events and the absence of a full stop in the messages, as it would signify the end of the relationship between the writer and addressee.