Max

Regarding “kisai suru”, I did ask a Japanese co-worker. I mentioned that in the post. This post was written because I made the mistake of using 教える in a business email and my co-worker suggested 記載する instead. So this advice should be valid, but may depend on the context too.

please ask a Japanese how he would use “kisai suru”. It’s more like “to note s.th.” I guess.

Max

Great catch on the use of itadaku. I totally overlooked that, but that should be added in there, along with general reminders about humble vs. honorific speech. Totally agree on the need to practice keigo, but I’ve also been reminded by Japanese coworkers when not to “overdo it” too. I’ve yet to get this balance right and tend to be overcautious.

Great article. These are all helpful tips. I’ve notched a few professional e-mails in Japanese myself, and another tip I might add is to use “~sete itadakimasu,” or “~sete itadaite orimasu” when doing or stating something you might normally ask someone for permission first, such as using English.

I find that essentially the more time you spend practicing keigo, the better your written business Japanese will sound.

Tyler