Writing Email in Japanese: Some Styles

The style in writing letters/emails in Japanese maybe varies from one to another. I thought that this might be that some used it based on to whom and the email content. I found five email writing styles below. Feel free to add any additional information regarding the social customization of written material below.

For simple email, there will: salutation (宛先)、greeting (あいさつ), email content/information (詳しい情報), ending (むすび) and signature (署名). If you request a reply, don't forget to add the request for a reply (返事の要求). The full structure of Japanese email (example for invitation/誘いのメール) is as pictured below.

Structure of Japanese invitation email [1]

Here are some styles when writing an email in Japanese.

Style #1
The first thing you do in any letter is to state who you are addressing. In English it would look something like "Dear + Name," or "To + Name," in Japanese, it looks a lot like the second version "name + へ、” へ is the directional target marker so it could be translated as to, example:

    山田さんへ、

    ...email content....

    これからも、よろしくお願いします
    バグスより

The word yori (より）in the last line is optional.

Style #2

I never used this style but I found it in a book [1]. Start with the address name and 拝啓. 

After that, you have a few options as to what you do next. A formal letter (i.e., a letter to your boss, a company, or someone you don`t know) is best to be started with the information requested. Then don't forget to close with such a phrase as 敬具。 Here is an example.