Japanese covering letter (添え状)
Posting a résumé, an invoice or papers in Japan? This is the page expected on top.
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Enclosed
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Example
Example: a freelance translator in Osaka posting her November invoice to a client
Anna Muster, a freelance translator living in Osaka, posts her November invoice and a work report to the accounts department of a client company (names and address made up). What you are sending: An invoice; after the last line: 御中, because the letter goes to a department, not a person.
- She leaves the subject and the letter empty, so the usual wording for an invoice is printed, and types her own two enclosures, which replace the default ・請求書 1通.
- For a job application she would choose Application documents instead: the subject becomes 応募書類の送付について, the list 履歴書 1通 and 職務経歴書 1通, and the last line 採用ご担当者 with 様.
| What she types or chooses | What the letter shows |
|---|---|
| Date: 2026-11-30 | 2026年11月30日, top right |
| To: 株式会社サンプル商事 / 経理部, one per line, with 御中 | 株式会社サンプル商事, and under it 経理部 御中: the honorific follows the last line only |
| From: 〒000-0000 / 大阪府大阪市北区見本町1-2-3 / Anna Muster（アンナ・ムスター） / 090-0000-0000 / anna@example.com | the five lines under the recipient, on the right |
| Subject: left empty | 請求書送付のご案内 (sending you our invoice), in the middle |
| The letter: left empty | 拝啓 時下ますますご清栄のこととお慶び申し上げます。, thanks for the custom, a request to check the enclosed invoice, then 敬具 |
| Enclosed: 請求書（2026年11月分） 1通; 作業報告書 1部 | 記, then ・請求書（2026年11月分） 1通 and ・作業報告書 1部, then 以上 on the right |
One A4 page, 送付状.pdf, with no footer of ours. She only typed names, addresses and the two enclosures; the greeting, the subject and the 記 … 以上 list were filled in in the form a Japanese office expects.
How it works
- Choose what you are sending: the wording and the list of enclosures are filled in for it.
- Type who it goes to, and choose 様 for a person or 御中 for a company.
- Type your own address and name.
- Change any line you want, then download the PDF and put it on top of the documents.
Frequently asked questions
- Is a covering letter really expected?
- For anything posted to a company in Japan, yes — documents arriving with no letter read as brusque. It is one page, and it says who sent what and why.
- Why is there no seasonal greeting?
- The opening used here (拝啓 時下ますますご清栄…) is the all-season one, which is correct in any month and is what most business letters use.
- What are 記 and 以上?
- The list of enclosures opens with 記 in the middle of the page and closes with 以上 on the right. It is the standard way of listing in a Japanese letter.
- 様 or 御中 — which one?
- 御中 when the last line of the address is a company or a department (経理部 御中), 様 when it is a person or 採用ご担当者 (採用ご担当者 様). Never both: put the department on one line and the person on the last, with 様.
- Can I write the letter in English?
- Every line can be rewritten, and English prints fine. But the date (2026年11月30日), the 記 … 以上 list and the honorific stay Japanese, so the result is a Japanese letter with English text in it. For a Japanese company, keep the Japanese wording and write your name in both forms, as in Anna Muster（アンナ・ムスター）.
- Does the date use the Japanese era?
- No. The date is printed with the Western year in Japanese form: 2026-11-30 becomes 2026年11月30日. Leave the date empty for today’s date.
- Is anything uploaded?
- No, and the letter never carries the free plan’s footer.