Of course this isn't about becoming a postman.
Recently I read a novel by Yasushi Kitagawa called Tegamiya — Ten Letters That Changed My Job Hunt.
It's about a university student facing job hunting who, by chance, starts exchanging letters with a stranger who runs a correspondence service called the Letter Shop.
Yasushi Kitagawa writes a lot of self-help-style novels.
(Different tone, but if you think of Keiya Mizuno of The Elephant Who Makes Dreams Come True, you might get the idea.)
Unless you're extremely allergic to self-help novels, I'd recommend reading at least one of his works.
In high school I happened to read one of his books and was completely moved.
I felt like the world had changed. At the time I really felt lucky to have found that book.
To confess, though: honestly I don't remember what it said, and whether my life truly changed — I'm not sure it did.
Maybe self-help is generally like that.
Of course the work itself is still wonderful, so becoming the extreme cynic who says all self-help is waste would be a real loss.
Reading this book, I again thought he's a wonderful writer — and more than anything, the Letter Shop theme hit me personally hard.
Corresponding with someone you don't know is a fascinating experience.
I love writing, so since I have the chance, I want to try offering a similar service myself.
Here's what I'm imagining for the service.
【Service】
- We exchange messages by email.
- Any topic is fine.
- Cap at 10 exchanges (10 round trips). I won't cut it off from my side, but you can stop anytime if you've had enough.
- No need to reveal who you are. (I won't actively reveal myself either.)
- Reply whenever each of us likes.
└ Incidentally, I recommend leaving at least a week after receiving a reply. Partly to avoid pressure for quick replies, and partly because I hope thinking ferments as time passes.
【Compensation】
- The service is free.
- But if correspondence finishes and you want to offer something in return, I'll accept that as thanks.
- Two conditions on compensation:
└ It shouldn't be too large. Zero is the baseline, so too small is fine — but if it's too large, I feel awkward as the recipient.
└ Timing: receive it only after some time has passed — e.g. three months after correspondence ends. Better to receive it when, even after time passes, you still feel glad you did it.
【Note】
- If you don't mind, I'd like to publish some of the exchanges on the blog. Personal info will of course be withheld. For anything I want to publish, I'll ask permission first.
【How to apply】
Send a message via the form with "letter shop request" and your email address, and I'll reply.
Your reply to that will count as the first exchange.
That's it. Feel free if you're interested.
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