In this guide
I like a thank-you that mentions one small thing from the day. A meal you enjoyed together or something you did during a visit gives the other person more than a general ‘thanks’: it tells them what you've remembered. When you're writing in Japanese, though, it's easy to get caught up in finding the right greeting and lose sight of the thing you wanted to say.
Before choosing the Japanese wording, I find it helpful to finish a sentence in English: ‘I'm writing to ___ because ___.’ Naming the person reminds you to think about how well you know them. Naming the reason gives the message somewhere to go, whether you're thanking them for a visit or asking them to send you something.
We'll start with a complete thank-you letter, then look at how a short message changes for a close friend or a teacher. I'll explain what each line is doing and which parts you can change, so you can see how to turn your reason for writing into a note of your own.
1. Thank a host family after a first visit
Maya has spent a weekend with a host family she doesn't yet know well. They cooked together, and she's sending a short paper thank-you. For someone you don't know well, or a teacher, polite です/ます sentences are a useful starting choice. Here's Maya's complete letter, one line at a time beside its meaning.
| Japanese message, in order | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 佐藤家のみなさんへ | To the Satos, |
| 週末はありがとうございました。 | Thank you for the weekend. |
| いっしょに料理をしました。とても楽しかったです。 | We cooked together. I had a really good time. |
| 夕食もおいしかったです。 | Dinner was delicious too. |
| またお会いしたいです。 | I'd like to see you again. |
| 10月21日 | October 21 |
| マヤ | Maya |
The opening thanks the family for the visit. The body names what Maya enjoyed: cooking together and the meal. Then またお会いしたいです, ‘I'd like to see you again,’ gives the letter a warm close. You can use that expression as a whole for now. The date and name finish the paper letter. If you’d like to thank someone for a particular favor, the guide to Japanese thank-you messages shows how to name what they did for you.
This opening fits a recent visit. If you hadn't been in touch for months, you might ask how the family is instead. I wouldn't ask ‘How have you been?’ just after waving goodbye. Let the recent contact give you something natural to say.
Change the action to match your visit
Maya is describing the cooking she did with the family. 料理をします means ‘cook’; 料理をしました means ‘cooked.’ Starting from a verb in its correct ます form, replace ます with ました for a completed action. The rest of the short sentence can stay as it is.
This gives you a useful way to change the body of the letter: say what you did together. If your draft has 見たです, adding です to the plain past hasn't made the usual polite past form. Start from 見ます and make the change below.
Revise the action ending
You’re thanking a host family you have just met. Say politely that you watched a film together. Start from 見ます, “watch/see.” Type only the replacement for 見たです.
いっしょに映画を＿。
Add how it felt
An action tells the family what happened; a description tells them why you appreciated it. 楽しい means ‘fun.’ It's an い-adjective, a kind of describing word. For a regular adjective in this group, change the last い to かった and add です: 楽しかったです, ‘It was fun.’
The meal gives Maya another detail to mention. おいしい means ‘delicious,’ so おいしかったです says that it was delicious. You don't have to add a new topic to make a thank-you personal: a particular meal is plenty. One common exception to the regular pattern is いい, ‘good’: its polite past is よかったです.
Revise the description
Keep the same polite thank-you. Say “It was fun.” 楽しい means “fun.” Type only the replacement for 楽しいでした.
とても＿。
2. Send photos to a close friend
Alex and Emi are close friends who normally use relaxed Japanese together. They visited a park on Saturday. Alex is sending a short message with photos attached, so a date at the bottom would add little.
| Japanese message, in order | Meaning |
|---|---|
| えみへ | To Emi, |
| 土曜日はありがとう。とても楽しかったよ。 | Thanks for Saturday. I had a really good time. |
| 公園の写真を送るね。 | I'm sending you the photos of the park. |
| また会おうね。 | Let's meet again. |
| アレックス | Alex |
The shape is familiar: reconnect with Emi, say what the message is about, then close. The language is more relaxed. ありがとう fits their friendly thanks; また会おうね, ‘Let's meet again,’ is a useful closing for this relationship.
In the polite letter, Maya wrote 楽しかったです. Alex uses 楽しかったよ. To say he'll send something, he uses 送るね instead of polite 送ります. 送る is the plain form of this verb; simply cutting off ます wouldn't produce it. The small endings よ and ね add a conversational feel, but you don't need to sprinkle them over every sentence.
For a short follow-up like this, you can reuse 写真を送るね and change what you're sending. 地図を送るね means ‘I'll send you the map.’ The content changes while the friendly action ending stays the same. For another action, use that verb's correct plain form.
Choose the style from your actual relationship. A host family could be people you met yesterday or people who've known you for years. Maya used polite writing because the relationship was new; Alex used plain writing because relaxed Japanese was already normal between these friends.
Choose a starting style
You are writing a short thank-you to a teacher you don’t know well. Which is the most useful starting choice for the ordinary sentences?
Choose the style for this relationship.
Tell them which photos or map
Alex doesn't just write ‘photos.’ 公園の写真 identifies them as photos of the park. You can make a phrase like this with detail noun + の + main noun. The main thing comes last: 写真, photos. 公園, park, narrows which photos you mean.
昨日の写真
Photos from yesterday
Here, 昨日 gives a time detail about the photos. の isn't limited to ownership: it can connect a place, time or other identifying detail to the main thing. Choose a detail the recipient can recognize. ‘Yesterday's photos’ helps only if the two of you know which photos you're talking about.
You can put the whole phrase into the action sentence in place of 写真. Try changing both the detail and the thing being sent.
Name the thing you’re sending
You’re sending a close friend a map of the park. Build a phrase meaning “map of the park” with 公園 (park), 地図 (map) and の. Type only that phrase.
＿を送るね。
3. Ask a teacher for a book title
Leo and his Japanese teacher, Tanaka-sensei, talked about a book yesterday. Leo forgot its title. His message thanks the teacher and asks, ‘Could you tell me the name of the book?’ It's a small, specific favor.
| Japanese message, in order | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 田中先生、こんにちは。 | Hello, Tanaka-sensei. |
| 昨日はありがとうございました。 | Thank you for yesterday. |
| 昨日の本の名前を教えてもらえませんか。 | Could you tell me the name of the book from yesterday? |
| よろしくお願いします。 | Thank you for your help. |
| レオ | Leo |
The thanks reconnects the message to yesterday. 昨日の本 identifies the book through their conversation; 本の名前 means ‘the name of the book.’ These details work together in 昨日の本の名前, with 名前, the thing Leo wants to know, at the end. よろしくお願いします is a conventional closing around the favor: ‘Thank you for your help with this.’
Make the request
Leo uses 教えてもらえませんか, ‘Could you tell me?’ The pattern is a verb's correct て-form followed by もらえませんか. 教える means ‘tell’ or ‘teach’; its て-form is 教えて. You can use the request with a different piece of information you want the person to tell you.
For sending something, the form you need is 送って, from 送る. That gives you another useful request:
写真を送ってもらえませんか。
Could you send me the photos?
Keep 送って when you change the photos to another thing you want sent. This is a softer polite request than 送ってください, which can sound like an instruction. The て-form belongs to the verb; don't attach もらえませんか directly to every dictionary form. For a request with a different verb, the guide to the Japanese te-form walks through the ending changes and common exceptions.
Make the small favor clear
You are writing politely to someone you met at the park yesterday. They took photos, and you would like them to send those photos. Choose the softer request that names the right thing.
Which sentence fits this purpose?
Leo is asking for one remembered title. If you're asking someone to check a long essay, tell them how long it is, what needs checking and when. Give them time to decide whether they can help.
The first line can stay simple too. 田中先生 uses the teacher's name and title. In a short message to someone you've met, こんにちは can also stand on its own as the greeting when you don't have a name or title to use. The message thread already identifies the person you're writing to.
Write your own short request
Use the same path for a new situation: reconnect with the person, identify what you need and make the request. Before typing, decide which sentence style fits this relationship. Keep the actual draft in Japanese.
Ask for a map after a club meeting
You met a Japanese walking-club coordinator yesterday. You don’t know them well yet. Sunday’s walk follows a route called さくらコース. Thank the coordinator for yesterday and ask them to send a map of that route. Write a short message with a greeting, the thanks, a clear request, a suitable closing and your name. Use the route name to identify which map you need. Useful words: 昨日 = yesterday; コース = route; 地図 = map; 送って = the て-form of “send.” This space is for your Japanese draft; it doesn’t grade your writing.
Copy your Japanese text, then paste it into the checker. This writing space does not assess or save your text.
Read your draft once as the recipient. Can you tell why the person is writing and exactly which map they're asking for? Check that the route name and map belong together in the phrase you made.
Then read just for the sentence endings. Keep the ordinary sentences in your chosen style. For a completed action in a polite message, start from its correct ます form and change it to ました; for a regular い-adjective in the past, use かったです. Greetings and names don't need an extra です.
Bunpo Check can suggest grammar corrections to your draft. Inspect each suggestion against your intended meaning and accept or dismiss it. You choose the relationship tone and whether the request suits the situation.
For a paper letter, choose a direction
Maya's thank-you uses horizontal writing: left to right, with lines progressing down the page. This is a comfortable choice for a short personal letter, and it's how you'd normally type an email or message. The tables above show the lines and their meanings, rather than exact positions on stationery.
Vertical Japanese runs from the top to the bottom of each column. Start the next column to its left, so the columns progress from right to left. Formal paper letters traditionally favor vertical writing; personal letters can use either direction. Your choice of direction doesn't decide whether the sentences should be polite.
Leave room for the opening, body, closing, date and names. In conventional formal layouts, the date and names come after the main text, though exact placement varies with the format. For a short horizontal personal letter, Maya's order gives you a useful starting point. In a message app, the date and sender are already shown.
About the author
B. Rungswell
B. Rungswell is the editor of the Bunpo Check blog and a native English speaker who has passed JLPT N1. Drawing on many years of life in Japan and experience working at Japanese companies, Rungswell writes practical guides to Japanese grammar for English-speaking learners.