How to Write an E-mail in Japanese

"How to Write an E-mail in Japanese" offers a brief and easy-to-understand outline of the general rules for writing e-mails in Japanese as the Japanese themselves write, to as great an extent as possible. This is by no means an easy task, due to the fact that the practice of e-mail correspondence by its supranational nature falls outside the norms and traditions of any given language. Then again, neither is there a complete detachment from the specific culture and mentality.

The book is based on the author's personal experience from which he draws real life examples that are actually used every day. Furthermore, together with the general rules, it offers the templates for composing e-mails for specific occasions as well as highlighting elements of correspondence that are self-evident to the Japanese but may be lost to those who are not native Japanese speakers, or that might manifest themselves in a different form in another language. The authors brings special attention to the use of titles when addressing somebody and the honorific form of language known as "keigo."

The book deliberately focuses on business correspondence since the standards of communication between private individuals are not so stringent and the price of failure in the event of non-compliance are less significant.