Gakuu – Learn Real Japanese

You’ve Got Mail!

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by

Michael
in , ,

Unexpected things in the mail are always a concern. “Oh no, what have I missed? It’s not a bill, is it? Or worse, overdue tax payments? Heaven forbid I have to make a phone call in Japanese…” Today we take a look at a standard postal note to help you deal with stuff like this.

There’s a lot of good Japanese in this one, and especially for you keigo lovers out there, very good use of the honourific. Since there’s a lot of text, we’ll only be looking at several of the more useful parts of the note. Feel free to look up the readings or extra words using Rikaichan or a handy online dictionary. You can ask questions in the comments if you feel any parts are in need of further explanation! Alrighty then!

日本郵便岡崎支店からのおしらせ

(In hiragana: にほん　ゆうびん　おかざき　してん　からの　おしらせ)

A notice from Japan Post Okazaki Branch

The next part with 様 (さま) is where the recipient’s name would be written. さま is used for clients, customers or anyone you wish to show a lot of respect for. It’s also used as the de-facto suffix when writing names on letters, as in this case.

配達日時

(はいたつ　にちじ)

Delivery time

Very useful word to remember here. 配達 is used in many different situations, from receiving standard mail to ordering goods online and directing delivery men. You’ll notice the date and time written after that, as well as the word ころ, which means ‘about’ or ‘roughly’.

Here’s the main chunk of text. We already know the note is from the post office and is talking about delivery times. It doesn’t take a lot of guess work to figure out that the rest of the note is going to be about something similar. In this case, it’s politely explaining that you were not in when the letter needed to be signed for.

本日、配達に伺いましたが、ご不在でしたので「郵便物のお預かりのお知らせ」をドアポストに、配達させていただきました。ご確認いただきます様、お知らせ致します。

You were out when we came to deliver your parcel, so we have put a ‘held item’ notice in your door post box.

There’s a lot of formal Japanese being used here, so don’t feel too bad if it’s over your head. The first steps are becoming familiar with certain expressions so that they don’t scare you when you see them. Take:

配達に伺いました

(はいたつに　うかがいました)

This is literally: (We) came to deliver. 伺う is the humble way of saying 来る or 行く – coming or going somewhere. It can also be used instead of 聞く, when asking a question. The aim is to lower oneself to show respect for the other person. In this case, because we are the customer receiving the package, the company is showing humility towards us in order to be polite.

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Comments

2 responses to “You’ve Got Mail!”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    “the last word 致す is the humble way of saying ‘(I) will do’. It’s not used for describing the actions of other people, unless they are considered part of your group and you need to show humility on their part too (see below). In this case then, the sentence is merely saying ‘we are informing you (of the failed delivery), so please check (the held item notice)’.” – trying to wrap my head around this bit. :) So you’re saying because the postman here is using ‘we’ to refer to his company and co-workers at the post office that he must use this 致す to show humility on their part also but -it’s not- normally used to talk about third person actions? So normally 致す is just for my being humble to another? If so, what would be used in its place? Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Gakuranman Avatar
      Gakuranman

      Heya. It’s pretty tricky, right? :p Your comment also highlighted a difference between させていただく and 致す.Perhaps try thinking of things in groups – the in group and the out group (内 and 外 in Japanese society). The company and all of its employees are the in group in this case and the person receiving the mail (the customer) is the out group. The company wants to show politeness towards its customers so they use 致す. This is the same whether the company employee is talking about their own action or the action of a co-worker.Compare that to a couple of friends: I want to say my friend will do something for someone else. In this case I would be unlikely to use 致す to talk about his action because he and I, although friends, do not strictly belong to the same group. However, if he and I were kouhai (juniors) and I was talking to a sempai (our senior), then I may, perhaps use 致す to describe mine or my friend’s action, because here there is a social grouping that separates kouhai and sempai. This may also happen when there are age differences involved.The best thing to do is just use する (します) when talking about the actions of other people until you feel comfortable breaking out the keigo in the right situations. Listening to the language and what the people around you are using is a good way of picking up the usage too. Don’t feel bad though – many young Japanese people don’t know how to use keigo properly either until starting to work properly. It’s something that is easiest picked up when working in an environment that requires it. :)As a further note, the difference between させていただく and 致す. They both mean ‘to do’ and refer to one’s own actions towards someone in the ‘out’ group, but there is a subtle variation.致す refers to one’s own action (or the ‘in’ group)させていただく is made of the causative form and いただく – to receive. So basically, it implies that you are having the other person do something for you. Compare:配達させていただきましたandお知らせ致しますThe first involves putting something in the other person’s postbox, so you are in effect having them let you do that (without asking). It’s a little bit like saying ‘Sorry, but I took the liberty of using your postbox to deliver a letter’.The latter, 致す, simply says I (or ‘we’) did something. Since the postal company is informing the customer of the delivery it’s more of a one-way process. However, it is equally okay to say 知らせていただきます too if you want to emphasize that you are involving the other person’s goodwill in the action. Confusing right? I wouldn’t worry though – this sort of difference is so subtle and doesn’t really have a great affect. It’s another area where you just get a feel for what expression works where as you progress :).More info in Japanese here:http://oshiete1.watch.impress.co.jp/qa2057583.html

      Reply

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