During these hard times, it is important to stay strong and remember to send our thoughts and feelings to those dear to us.

In Japan, people sometimes find it difficult to express themselves straightforwardly, especially when it comes to the feelings of love towards someone.

Many feel embarrassed, but at the same time, they do want to convey their feelings and tell their beloved ones how much they love them and care about them.

Conveying these feelings isn’t so easy, so Japan has found a way to communicate these feelings through letters.

You can see it during Valentine’s Day when girls confess their love or White Day when boys answer their feelings.

At weddings, graduation, birthdays, when proposing to someone, during all these big events when you are not sure how to express exactly what you feel, people in Japan write letters so they can accurately tell the people reading or listening to them what they feel.

Sometimes, they read the letter aloud, sometimes they hand it and let the person who received it read it by themselves. What is important is that letters have helped people convey their feelings for a long way in the past.

Nowadays, many turn to crafts or more creative ideas and one of those is the “Shikake Tegami”.

Shikake Tegami can make a great gift to someone and at the same time, you can show your affection towards that person by writing the message yourself.

"Tegami" is the Japanese word for "letter", but it is more an illustration book, rather than a letter. When ordering it, you will be asked to write the sentences yourself and use your name and the name of the person who is receiving it for the characters of the book.

You can also pick the graphics you like from the two models available at the moment.

At the end of it, you have space to write a message for your dear one and the rest will be done by the illustrators.

The Shikake Tegami online service helps people express their feelings of gratitude and their affection to those dear to them and it can even be accessed on smartphones which makes it very convenient.

You can customize it the way you want to and you can use it for your wedding, as a birthday or anniversary/Christmas gift or even when you want to propose to your girlfriend. You can also make one for Mother’s Day!

The service is quite popular now in Japan and the picture book is one of a kind because the main characters are you and the person who receives it.

You can personalize the sentences, write a message, and the one who gets it will surely be touched by the gesture. The gift will unmistakably become a great memory and one of their most precious treasures. There are five stories you can choose from and the characters’ faces can be personalized so it looks like you and the gift recipient.

I find the idea very creative and I am looking forward to seeing the other Shikake Tegami that will be soon available (for family, aimed at children, etc.). Unfortunately, the service is now available only in Japanese, but hopefully, it will become more known abroad and they will also make an English version soon.

Shikake Tegami Official Website (Japanese Only)