akynika

[akynika]

How to write formal Japanese emails・正式な日本語のメールの書き方

The nonprofit I work for recently gave all us interns a really informative talk on the protocol for writing profession emails in Japanese, so I thought I’d share what I learned with you guys! Just so you know, I’ll be using some advanced vocab (including 敬語) in this post and pretty much won’t gloss any kanji. So if you’re feeling up to it, then let’s go! 行きましょう！

Subject line

For some reason our presenter did this one last, but I’m going to put it at the beginning. As in English subject lines, be plain and mention the specific purpose of your email. I have temporarily lost SO many work emails due to inane or repeat subject lines. Include your last name in the subject line if you think it’s necessary. Here’s a sample subject line for an internship application:

インターンシップ申し込み（XX大学・［名字・名前*］）

Here’s one for the nonprofit I work for:

【［非営利団体］】トピック３：コロナウイルス（11月9日開始）

Please don’t ask what I do here…it’s semi-ridiculous. (And I don’t even get paid.)

*If you have a Western name where your given name comes before your family name, it’s more up to you which order you put them in and which one you use in general, especially if you don’t know if your Japanese recipient will be able to recognize which is which (or if you’re like me and your last name is nigh unpronounceable in kana). You might want to think about this on a case-by-case basis.

Addressing the recipient

Usually the first thing you do in an English email is greet who you’re talking to. This is the same in Japanese. Here’s a basic template:

株式会社ABC XX部 ［名字・名前］様

First, you name the company* your addressee works for; second, the department; and third, their full name, accompanied by 様（さま）, not さん!

*Be careful here: not all companies are 株式会社. Basically, the first line is for their workplace. If you’re a university student like me, you might be emailing someone who works for ABC大学.

Introducing yourself

Next, you should say who you are. The format for this varies on whether you are telling them who you are or reminding them, i.e., if this is your first time emailing them or not. Here’s an introduction template for a university student:

初めてメールをお送りいたします。ABC大学XX学部YY学科*の［名字・名前］と申します。

With a first email, you state that it’s the first email and introduce yourself using 申す to be extra polite. You also state your university (if they don’t work for it already, presumably), your major, and 学科* if necessary. If you’re a double major like me, you can write XX学部 twice in a row.

Here’s a template for a second email:

いつもお世話になっております。ABC大学／XX学部の［名字］です。

Basically, you thank them for talking with you again and briefly reintroduce yourself, depending on if your university or your major is more relevant. No need to use 申す.

*I’ll be honest: I don’t really know what a 学科 is or how it differs from 学部／専攻／専門. Our presenter called it a “sub-major.” No clue what that means. Concentration, maybe? Tread carefully, my friends.

Email body

Just as in English emails, Japanese emails should be simply written and get to the point as immediately as possible. That’s more basic email etiquette than anything—after all, does anyone really want to be reading emails?

You should also use 敬語 in the email body if you can. Pick whether to use 尊敬語 or 謙譲語 and then stick with your choice for the entire email. I gotta say, I have no idea how to decide which one to use! 敬語 is so hard! Do your best!!!

(Also, here’s a 敬語 Quizlet I made a while ago!)

Here are some useful phrases to include in your email body:

XXを添付しておりますので、ご確認お願いいたします。 = I have attached XX for you to check.

ご質問などございましたら、遠慮なくお申し付けください。 = If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

ご不明な点などございましたら、お気軽にご連絡ください。 = If anything is unclear, please feel free to contact me.

クッション言葉 (cushion phrases)

In classic Japanese fashion, クッション言葉 are phrases used to soften requests, questions, apologies…basically all manner of inconvenience or imposition. These can get pretty long, which seems to go against the general rule of concision in emails, but in Japanese these are very important. Use them in your email body.

Asking for help, making a request:

恐れ入りますが… (note: 入 here is pronounced い)

お手数おかけいたしますが…

ご迷惑おかけいたしますが…

Asking a question:

少々お尋ねしたいことがあります。

Making an apology:

誠に／大変申し訳ございませんが…

There are probably lots more of these to be discovered. Maybe someday a Japanese person will write YOU an embarrassingly polite email!

Closing

Ah, conclusions—the worst part of any piece of writing. Luckily, we have more templates. This is another case where the format varies depending on whether you’ve emailed this person before. Here’s the template for a first email:

お忙しいところ、お手数おかけいたしますが、何卒、よろしくお願い申し上げます。

Probably the most commas I’ve ever seen used in one Japanese sentence. This is all 謙譲語.

Here’s a template for if you’ve emailed them before:

今後とも／引き続きよろしくお願いいたします。

Basically, you have to thank them for their continued support/tolerance of you. 

Signature

And here we have just what we did for the addressee at the beginning, but now for you, the sender.

［名字・名前］ ABC大学XX楽部XX学科* 携帯番号：XXX メール：YYY@

Optionally, you can also link any webpage you might have (like LinkedIn) or include your home, school, or business address. I’m not totally clear on what the protocol is surrounding your cell phone number, since in the US at least I would never give that out in an email signature, but you can probably delete it or easily replace it with a work number.

*Again, substitute your place of work if necessary.

お疲れ様でした！

Yikes, that was a lot of content at once, especially since most of it is just canned phrases to memorize or keep on hand. I hope this will help you guys in all your scary email-writing endeavors!! またこの次までね！

[akynika]

shut up

[akynika]

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[akynika]

Episode XIX

more [or click here for more roommate shenanigans] credit for the quote goes to the lovely @techfan450 - thank you for giving me permission to use this :)

[akynika]

just some lads, being fellows

[akynika]

masks and helmets that hides someone's face in such a way that they become the face themselves my beloved

these are all creatures to me

[akynika]

[akynika]

Deadpool and his angry husbands Wolverine variants

🔸 Logan 🔸 Short King Wolverine

🔸 Patch 🔸Weapon X

🔸 Old Man Logan 🔸 Crucified Wolvie

🔸 Classic John Byrne 🔸 Cavillrine

🔶The Worst Best Wolverine. AKA: Peanut💛

[akynika]

[akynika]

Please accept another Poolverine bridal carry pose~!! ❤️💛

[akynika]

Wade is just like me fr

[akynika]

fun fact about languages: a linguist who was studying aboriginal languages of Australia finally managed to track down a native speaker of the Mbabaram language in the 60s for his research. they talked a bit and he started by asking for the Mbabaram word for basic nouns. They went back and forth before he asked for the word for “dog” The man replied “dog” They had a bit of a “who’s on first” moment before realizing that, by complete coincidence,  Mbabaram and English both have the exact same word for dog.

[akynika]

top 5 most fucked up looking kanji

#5 褒

as in 褒美（ほうび）. 保 really cut open 衣 and crawled inside its corpse

#4 臨

as in 臨時（りんじ）. too many holes :(

#3 淵

as in 深淵（しんえん）. what the hell is going on with this thing?? it's in a weird uncanny valley between 片 and 川. this shape doesn't show up in any other kanji i've seen

#2 燕

#1 嚼

as in 咀嚼（そしゃく）. besides 口, all of the other radicals in this kanji are individually fucked up looking. it's like a chimaera, a mass of writhing flesh made more horrible by a single human head protruding from its body

[akynika]

Eclipse of the Sun in Venice in July 8, 1842 by Ippolito Caffi.

[akynika]

biologist here! why are plants green? well they suck up air from the sky (blue) and mix it with the sunlight (yellow) i fucking love science.

[akynika]

i hate when i send someone a meme in another language and they're like "uhm... translate? 😒" fucker i sent you a meme where 90% of the words have an english cognate and/or you don't need to know what they're saying to find it funny. can you at least TRY

[akynika]

🐰 Haneri embroidered with a cute rabbit surrounded with beautiful blooming flowers, ideal for the Mid-Autumn Festival (𝒯𝓈𝓊𝓀𝒾𝓂𝒾)🐇 

𝑀𝓊𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝒫𝑒𝓃𝓈𝑒𝑒 brings us a beautiful collection of exquisitely embroidered haneri.

𝐿𝒾𝓁𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓋𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 (スズラン) or 𝒫𝓁𝓊𝓂 𝒷𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓈𝑜𝓂 (梅) What is your favorite flower? What is your color you choose? Blue or pink?

This collar with swan (白鳥) embroidery and a blue background can be combined with a summer yukata or for more formal events.🦢

You can visit this skilled artist’s shop here