Tegami (手紙): A letter

Today, writing letters shares rank with cranking up the gramophone or tipping the milkman. Important only after receiving a present, replying to a grandparent and interviewing for a job, the pen-and-paper variety has quickly eroded from email to text. The Japanese, however, buck this trend. Though they love to email and text, high esteem still shrouds the traditional letter. Along with stationary megastores and mandatory calligraphy class in school, the Japanese employ dozens of words to specifically describe the function of a letter and to whom it is addressed. But my favorite is tegami because its meaning is inveterate, etched in kanji. The first character means hand and the second, paper. The perfect reminder for all those who can’t quite remember how they survived before E-vite.