1.平素(へいそ)よりお世話(せわ)になっております/ Greeting at the beginning of an email to a customer


This phrase is used as a greeting at the beginning of an email to a customer with whom you are in regular contact. It is used for people from different companies. 


Other variations are the more polite "平素より誠(まこと)にお世話になっております" and "平素より大変(たいへん)お世話になっております", as well as the simplified version "お世話になっております".


2. 早速(さっそく)のご返信、誠(まこと)にありがとうございます/ Thank you very much for your prompt reply.


Another similar phrase is "早速のご対応(たいおう)、誠にありがとうございます".


The character "信" in 返信 originally means ‘letter’ or ‘contact’ , so "返信" means a response to the email.


'対応' means taking action at the other person's request.


For example, if you ask someone to fix an anomaly on your website and they do so immediately, you can use the phrase "早速のご対応、誠にありがとうございます".


3.ご返信が遅くなり申し訳ございません/Sorry for the delay in getting back to you


Sometimes it is difficult to get an immediate response when emailing Japanese people.


In Japanese companies, especially traditional Japanese companies, young people have little discretion and need the decision of their boss or even their boss's boss, which often leads to late replies.


4.ご教示(きょうじ) / to tell, to let know (respectful style)


・Xにつきまして、ご教示頂けないでしょうか。/ Could you please inform us about X?


・Xにつきまして、ご教示頂ければ幸(さいわ)いです。/ I would be grateful if you could provide me with information on X.


・ご教示頂き誠に有難(ありがと)うございます。/ Thank you very much for your information.


Note that this is respectful language, so it cannot be used for your own actions, as in 'I will inform you about this later' - こちらにつきましては、のち程お知らせ致します.


5. Xの程(ほど)、宜(よろ)しくお願い致(いた)します。/ Please do X.


・ご確認の程、宜しくお願い致します。/ Please check it.


・ご協力(きょうりょく)の程、宜しくお願い致します。/ Thank you very much for your cooperation.


・ご理解(りかい)の程、宜しくお願いいたします。/ Thank you very much for your understanding.


6. ご査収(さしゅう) / to examin and receive (respectful style)

The phrase is used more than 90% of the time when attaching files to emails.


・請求書(せいきゅうしょ)を添付(てんぷ)致します。ご査収の程、宜しくお願い致します。/An invoice is attached. Thank you very much for your inspection.


・先日のお写真をファイル共有サービスにてご送付致します。ご査収の程、宜しくお願いいたします。/I will send you the photos from the other day via a file sharing service. Please receive them.


7. X頂けましたら幸いです/ We hope you will…/ Please do X (indirectly)

・ぜひ、ご出席頂けましたら幸いです。/We would be delighted if you could attend.


・22日(金曜日) 16時までにご返信頂けましたら幸いです。/ We would be grateful if you could reply by 16:00 on Friday 22nd.


・お手すきの際に、ご確認頂けましたら幸いです。/We would be grateful if you could confirm it when you are free.


8. 恐縮(きょうしゅく) / I’m afraid/ I appreciate

恐縮 is used to mean both 'thank you' and 'sorry'. 


・お手数おかけし恐縮です。/ I am sorry to trouble you


・お忙しいところ、お時間頂き恐縮です。/Thank you (Sorry) for taking time out of your busy schedule.


A: Bさんのプレゼンテーション、素晴(すば)らしかったです。/ Your presentation was amazing!

B: 恐縮です。/ Thank you so much. (Your word is more than I deserve.)


9. お手数(てすう)/ trouble 

・お手数おかけします。: I am sorry to trouble you/ Thank you for your cooperation.


・お手数ですが、金曜日までにご返信頂ければ幸いです。: I am sorry for the trouble but I would appreciate your reply by Friday.


・お手数をおかけしてしまい、大変恐縮です。: I sincerely apologize for the trouble I have caused you.


10.宜(よろ)しくお願い致(いた)します/ Please take care of this/ I will leave this to you

・引き続き宜しくお願い致します/I look forward to keep working with you (Please reply to this email)


・今後とも宜しくお願いいたします/ I look forward to working with you for the long term.


・何卒(なにとぞ)宜しくお願い致します/ More polite style of どうぞ宜しくお願いします


When using honorifics, especially when you are speaking/ writing a message one-to-one, directly saying '-して下さい' is seen as a bit rude. Therefore, by using both contexts (I am having trouble with this/ I have this request) and 宜しくお願いします, you can indirectly say 'please do this' or sometimes ‘‘Please guess what you should do’


・会計の都合上、ご返信期限は金曜日とさせて頂きました。お手数ですが宜しくお願い致します。/ For accounting reasons, the deadline for replies is Friday. +宜しくお願い致します= Please reply by Friday.


・詳細は今月中に決定致しますので、宜しくお願いいたします。/ Further details will be finalised later this month.+宜しくお願いいたします= Please wait until the end of the month for further information.