Review of Writing Letters in Japanese by Charles Eicher

This book is an excellent introduction to writing formal letters in Japanese. It describes everything from how to format the letter and address the envelope, typical language forms and grammar, standard greetings (aisatsu) and closings, and dozens of "templates" for standard letters. The templates include seasonal letters (new years cards, midsummer cards, birthday cards), personal letters, thank you notes, formal requests, announcements, invitations, etc. It also contains a very valuable section on job-hunting letters and how to write a resume in Japanese. Highly recommended.

BTW, when I bought this book in Japan, I saw the sample letters and suddenly I realized that I had to write several formal thank-you notes to my professors! In some cases, just being aware that these formal letters even exist (and that polite people would be required to write them) can be very important!

☆ See all reviews by Charles Eicher.