Sublinks:

- Email Sample for Apologizing.
- Email Sample for Showing Appreciation.
- Email Sample for Making a Complaint.
- Email Sample to Get a Confirmation from a Client.
- Email Sample to Expedite.

Simply send me a message if you want me to make other samples.

how to write formal business Japanese Email

Similar to an email written in English, Japanese emails can be broadly divided into three parts.　(sample at bottom)

1. Salutation
2. Body
3. Signature.

Salutation/ご挨拶

Line 1: When writing to an external customer, the common protocol is to type out the entire company's name on the first line. If it is a public/incorporated company, generally the company should have the words "株式会社" next to it (It may come before or after the company's name, depending on how the company named itself. Make sure to follow the company's naming protocol as best as possible.)

Line 2: On the next line, you would typically type the recipient's last name along with the character 様. The 様 character shows respect to the recipient, perhaps somewhat similar to adding Mr. or Mrs. before the recipient's name in English.

Line 3: Generally all emails will include the business greeting "いつもお世話になっております、". This can be roughly translated to "Thank you always for your support." Note, you would still write this to clients even if it is the first time you do business with them.　

Line 4: You would write your "full" companies name + の + your last name and the statement "と申します。" This is to introduce yourself. This one can actually be combined with Line 3, but I like to put it on a new line just for symmetry. Also, you can omit introducing yourself if it is clear the client knows who you are. Last point is not to add 様 to your own name.

株式会社　三菱鉄鋼       Recipient's Company Name
鈴木様                         Recipient's name + 様

いつもお世話になっております、  Standard Opening Greeting
近鉄自動車の水野と申します。   Your company name & last name

Body/本文

The body, like in English, will consist of the main topic the sender wants to convey to the recipient. In this case, the format can be multivarious so I cannot say there is one strict format. As a rule of thumb, it is always best to use the Humble form when refering to yourself and Respectful form when referring to the recipient or the recipients colleagues, as it makes you look a lot more professional.

Signature

The signature can be similar to the signature in English. As in English, where you would write words like (sincerely, truly yours, regards, thank you) Japanese will have specific phrases for business. The most common one would be Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu (よろしくお願いします）, or even more formal way would be よろしくお願い致します。Example below

---------------------------------------------

(Salutation)

(BODY)

以上、よろしくお願い致します。

鈴木  (your name)

ABC株式会社　(your company name)

03-0330-xxxx  (your phone number)

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