How It Works
A real, continuing correspondence with one person in Japan — not a search box and a queue of unanswered introductions.
- 1
Choose your penpal
Meet real, verified adults in Japan and choose someone you'd like to hear from.
- 2
Receive a handwritten letter
Your penpal writes a personal letter for you in Japan — two to three A5 pages, in their own handwriting, addressed to you by name.
- 3
Write back online
Reply from your account and tell them about your life, answer their questions or ask something new.
- 4
Keep the conversation going
Your next letter will continue where your last conversation left off. Your penpal always reads your reply before writing again.
No matching queue. No unanswered introduction messages.
Traditional penpal sites help you search. My Japanese Penpal gives you a real continuing correspondence with someone you choose.
What arrives
A sealed envelope, posted from Japan with Japanese stamps and addressed to you by name. Inside is a handwritten letter — typically two to three A5 pages — written for you by the person you chose.
Nothing else. No merchandise, no printed inserts, no invoice or pricing paperwork in the envelope. The letter is what you're paying for, so that's what we send.
Where we mail
Anywhere Japan Post delivers, with international postage included in the price. You enter your postal address when you sign up, and you can change it later from your account.
Timing
Your first letter will usually be mailed from Japan within 7 days. After that, your penpal writes each month and we mail letters as they are finished — there is no fixed batch day.
International standard mail is not tracked, so delivery times vary by country. We show you the date your letter was mailed from Japan, and we never claim a delivery we can't verify.
Privacy of addresses
Your penpal never sees your home address, and you never see theirs. Every letter travels through our operations office in Tokyo. If you'd like to reply on paper instead of online, you write to us using your Penpal Code and we pass it on.
Language
Choose English, Japanese or bilingual letters when you sign up. Translation support is available when it's helpful — but every letter is written by a person, by hand.
What the letters look like
Letters are written on Japanese stationery and posted in a sealed envelope with Japanese stamps. Everyone's handwriting and style is different — these show the general look and feel.
These are illustrations, not photographs of letters we have sent. They show the kind of stationery used. Every real letter is written by hand by the person you choose — we don't use AI text, autopens or printed handwriting.
- Verified adult writers
- Handwritten in Japan
- Private address routing
- International postage included
- Cancel anytime