Japanese Letter Writing: Format, Etiquette, and Cultural Tips

In Japan, as with the rest of the world, it's become less common to send people handwritten letters. Most written communication happens via text messages, social media, and emails.

Nevertheless, there are situations where it would be appropriate to write someone a letter by hand—and, sometimes, you just want to write a letter. (We want you to send that love letter, too. We're rooting for you!)

In this article we'll start by walking through the structure of a formal letter in detail. You likely won't write a letter like this, if you learn how to write one, it'll make it easy to understand how more informal letters, business emails, and even things like postcards work, too.

Oh, and before we get too far along — the Japanese word for letter is 手紙(てがみ).

Note: There are three Japanese writing systems. This blog post assumes that you can already read hiragana and understand how kanji work.

We'll get into:

Japanese letter format (formal letter)

Generally speaking, a "proper" Japanese letter has ten key components and can be broken down into four sections:

You can see these sections outlined in the below example (source):

And now we'll explore each of those sections.

The opening section

The opening part of a letter is called 前文(ぜんぶん), and it is comprised of two components.

1. Opening words

To start a letter, insert a 頭語(とうご): an opening expression. The most standard expression is 拝啓(はいけい), and it roughly corresponds to "dear" or "to whom it may concern" in English.

A few other opening words you may sometimes use:

Two quick notes:

2. A seasonal greeting

In Japanese culture, it's customary to offer a brief greeting that alludes to the season at hand before you get into the main body of the letter. Called a 時候(じこう)の​挨拶(あいさつ), these are pleasant in tone, somewhat poetic, and include a wish for the good health of the person you're writing to.

Here are a few sample greetings that I found in letters online:

There are many customary seasonal words and phrases, such as those shown here (link in Japanese). You can use them to build your own greeting.

*Note: When sending condolences, the seasonal greeting is typically skipped, thus letting the letter's focus revolve entirely around your sympathies. In these cases, open the letter with ("skipping the preliminaries") or ("my sincerest apologies for skipping the preliminaries") , say what you have to say, and then close the letter with ("apologies for the brevity").

The body / main part of your message

Salutations out of the way, we may now move on to the main part of the letter, called the 主文(しゅぶん). Just like in English, this is the part of the letter where you say whatever it is that you have to say.

3. Transition

It would be somewhat jarring to jump straight from "the cherry blossoms have already begun to wilt" to "I blew a tire out on the highway and was thus, regretfully, unable to attend the...", so Japanese people add a bit of cushion between the seasonal greeting and letter body.

Here are a few common transitional phrases that you can use in letters and also in normal communication:

You may either use these words (called ) and write an entire transitional sentence, or you may follow your chosen word/phrase with a comma and then proceed directly the body of your letter.

4. The body

Here, in the , you may share your message. How you go about writing it depends on your relationship with the addressee, but given that this is a formal letter, it will likely be somewhat elevated in style, and also use polite language ( ) and beautified words (), if not full-blown honorific language ( ).

The closing section

The final portion of a Japanese letter, the末文(まつぶん), is a bit more complex than that of an English letter, but not by much. It contains two parts.

5. A closing expression

The closing expression (結(むす)び​の​挨拶(あいさつ) ) is a counterpart to the seasonal greeting you used to begin the letter. Here, you express your wishes for the addressee's health and happiness. If in a business context, you should convey your hopes for the company's prosperity and success.

Your letter might include a closing line such as:

6. Closing words

Just as the closing expression corresponds to the seasonal phrase, the closing words correspond to the opening words. In our opening words example we used with 拝啓(はいけい), so here we should close with its counterpart, 敬具(けいぐ) , which can be translated as "yours truly."

As mentioned in that earlier section, opening words and closing words come in pairs. Here are some other common word pairs you might use:

The appendix

The appendix, the後付(あとづけ), is where all of the "extra" information goes. It includes four parts.

Note that the spacing/placement of these elements may be different than you expect, so be sure to refer to the sample letter at the top of this article.

7. The date

List out the date (日付(ひづけ) ).

Note that Japan has their own calendar system based on the Japanese eras, and you should use that here, not our Western calendar. As such, you should write:

8. Your signature

Add your signature (署名(しょめい)). Note that if you write your name in Japanese, your family name should be placed before your given name.

9. The addressee's name

Finally, you list the addressee/recipient (the 宛名(あてな) ). This requires three steps:

Again, be sure to refer to the image above, as the placement of these three elements may not be intuitive if you haven't written a Japanese letter before.

† While 様(さま) may sound overly formal in speech, it is the standard suffix used in formal writing. It is even used if the person you are writing to you is younger in age and lower in status.

10. (Optional) The post script

Any supplementary information that you'd like to include but don't feel should go in the letter body may be placed here.

In Japanese, this is called the .

A few notes about formal letters

If you're going to go to the trouble of writing a formal Japanese letter, you might also want to:

How to address an envelope

We've now got your letter, but you didn't write it to look pretty on your coffee table. It's time to send it!

Here's everything you need to know about Japanese envelopes and addresses to get your letter to it's destination.

The front of the envelope

Here's what the front of a Japanese envelope looks like:

You'll fill this out as follows:

Which suffix to use with the recipient's name

As mentioned in step 9 above, you should attach an honorific suffix to the recipient's name. If in doubt, 様(さま) is a safe option. It is considered standard and can be used with anyone, regardless of their relationship to you.

様 aside, here are a few other suffixes you might also see:

How Japanese addresses work

Japanese addresses are organized so that the biggest area comes first, with the caveat being that the postal code is listed first (instead of last, as in the USA).

Here's the components of a Japanese address, in order:

Putting all that together, here's the address of Waseda University:

† If you are sending a letter to Japan from overseas, write "JAPAN" at the bottom of the envelope so that the post office workers know where the letter should go. Upon entering Japan, Japanese post office workers will take the letter from there.

The back of the envelope

Here's what the back of a standard Japanese envelope looks like:

You'll fill this out as follows:

Japanese letter format (casual letter)

Congrats! You now know how to write and address a formal Japanese letter, in the event that you're ever feeling super fancy.

Most of the time, though, you'll probably be sending letters that are more informal. Here, you have two options:

How to write a slightly less-formal letter

Here's an example of a slightly less formal letter. As you can see, it has pretty much all of the parts of our formal letter above, but it's written from left to right and the recipient's name is on the page of the letter itself.

Realistically, if you're going to all this trouble, though, you might as well just write a formal letter!

How to write a very casual letter

There is a "proper" way to write a letter, and you now know it... but people don't send "proper" letters very often. A few Japanese friends I consulted even told me that they didn't really know anything about letter-writing etiquette.

Think about it: there's a proper way to arrange silverware on a dinner table, too, but how many of us actually own differently-sized spoons and forks, let alone know how to arrange them?

You'll more often find yourself scribbling a quick note to somebody, and in this case, you only need three things:

Of course, this isn't to say that you can't include some of the elements of a formal letter. There are no rules! It's your letter. I personally recommend trying to include a seasonal greeting.

How to write a business email in Japanese

The format of Japanese business emails is quite similar to that of a formal letter, but there are three main differences:

To get started, here's a simple template you can use:

Email fields

To, CC, and BCC work in the same way as they do in English emails.

The subject line ( ) is also nothing special: do your best to be concise and descriptive.

The addressee's information

In the formal letter, we simply listed the addressee's name. In a business email, the name is broken into three lines:

The first line is not necessary if you are sending an email to someone in the same company, and you may also see the second line omitted, too.

When you're done, insert a line break so that there is a space between this section and the next section.

The greeting

The greeting consists of two main lines, and they're quite fixed. You'll begin pretty much every email you ever write with these two short lines:

The above two lines should be placed one after another. Next, insert a line break so that there is space between the greeting and email body.

The email body

Begin by stating the reason you are contacting this person. You may use the same transitional phrases we mentioned in the email section to do this, such as さて ("well; then") or このたび ("on this occasion").

Now you may say whatever it is you wish to say. Do your best to be concise, and use honorific language to the best of your ability.

Upon finishing, insert a line break so that there is some space between the email body and your closing line.

The closing

This is a single line to acknowledge that your message is coming to an end. There are many phrases you may use (link in Japanese), but here's a safe one that will always be OK:

When you're done, move to the next line and insert a divider to separate the body of your email from your signature.

Your signature

Japanese signatures are very detailed, but the information is straightforward. Place each of the following pieces of information on a new line:

Different companies will do this differently, so if you are new, pay attention to the structure of your supervisor's signature.

Nangajo, postcards sent on New Year's

Realistically, if most people send anything via snail mail, it will be a —a special postcard that people send on New Year's.

You can send nengajo to anyone, but they're conventionally sent to people who have somehow helped you in the past year. You should not send them to people if one of their family members has died in the last year.

In December, you'll see these being sold in pretty much any store you walk into in Japan, from 7-11 to Daiso to the train station gift shop.

What nengajo cards look like

Nengajo are basically post cards. They look something like this:

Most will feature some sort of celebratory statement. Some will be just text, while others may include an image.

You don't need to write anything on the nengajo—the well-wish is already there—but if you want to, here are two phrases that you'll often hear during this time of the year:

If you enjoy calligraphy, you can also make your own cards. Here's a Japanese artist walking through the do's and don't of making one. The video is in Japanese, but it's clear enough that you can mostly follow along just by watching what he's doing.

How to address a nengajo

The back of a nengajo card looks like this:

Like most postcards, they don't require an envelope to send. Instead, you'll write this information directly on the card:

These should be written in three different sizes of font:

As these are already addressed, you can simply drop them off at any post office or post box. Make sure to send this before December 25th, as mail sent later than this date will not be delivered until January 1st (which is too late).

Where to go for Japanese writing practice

If you don't know any Japanese people to write with, here are two ways you can find pen-pals and practice writing in Japanese:

Use the "Slowly" app

Slowly, available on iOS and Android, is an app to send postcards digitally. The catch is that while you can see when you have mail on the way, you can't open them until the same amount of time it would take to ship a real postcard from your location to the recipient's location has passed.

Additionally, unlike most chat apps, you cannot upload photos to Slowly. You choose an avatar, your nationality, your interests, and the languages you speak, write an optional bio, and that's it. The system then lets you browse a list of people who speak or are learning your languages. Once you find someone you like, you get to write them a postcard! You've now got a few friends and a reason to improve your Japanese writing skills.

Write entries on Langcorrect

Writing letters in Japanese isn't the explicit focus of Langcorrect, but you can use it for that purpose. Its a website that is intended to help people become better writers in their target language. It's pretty straightforward:

The "strategy" here is to be generous about correcting the texts of people who speak your target language. Some will reciprocate, and before long you'll have a small pool of people that you exchange with on a regular basis.

I use Langcorrect for Mandarin, not Japanese, but you can see how it works below:

But... I don't speak Japanese (yet)!

You now know more about Japanese letters and letter-writing etiquette than some Japanese people do.

Now you just have to sit down and write your letter.

If you don't feel as confident as you'd like to in Japanese—or perhaps you've never used Japanese honorific language before, so the language used in formal letters and emails scares you—check out Migaku. Our in-depth beginner's course will take you from zero to a point where you can confidently use Japanese to do the things that matter to you.

Try it for free

[Cheatsheet] Vocabulary about Japanese letters

This article includes a lot of vocabulary that you might not have heard before. Here's the key vocabulary we used in one place, for easy reference.

The anatomy of a letter

The components of a letter

Vocabulary related to Japanese addresses