See you later in Japanese

Is ''Soredeha Mata'' a more formal version of ''See you later'' than ''Dewa Mata'' is? I have two different J-man pen friends and one signs his letters ''Dewa Mata'' and the other ''Soredeha Mata.'' Just wondering if it was a formal/informal thing or maybe just a regional difference? Arigatou!

I have 2 male penpal friends as well and they both sign with 'ja mata-ne'. Is that different again?

Actually, ja and dewa mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably nearly all the time.

Whilst Ja-mata and dewa mata have the same meaning Dewa mata is used in more formal speach and ja mata is informal speach

Yeah David is right. Also "Ja mata ne" sounds like the most normal thing to say in an informal conversation with a pen friend or a younger person, but if you go to Japan and you are talking to your neighbor or a stranger then instead of see you later, you might want to say doomo(doe moe) it is a formal term meaning thanks, but you can use it to say hello and good bye. Dewa mata is like saying "I hope to hear from you soon," where Ja mata ne is more like "catch you later," or "see ya". I am not suggesting that you just say doomo to your penfriends, because you are already talking in a more friendly manner, but if you are thinking about formallity, doomo is a good word to know and it is easy to remember.

May be a typo "Sore dewa mata" is like saying "With that (being said) see you later" yet sounds alittle bit higher on the Japanese pyramid of formal speach.

i think the most informal way to say "see ya" would be ja ne, or even just ja.

Seba in Akita
Hona in Osaka

For clarification, ja(a) is a contraction of de wa, and in general, in Japan as in English, contracted forms are considered less formal than un-contracted.
In spite of this, at times, even a more formal exchange in either the written form or the spoken can have a slightly less formal ending, as to invoke a lighter feeling in closing.
Another common sign-off of a more formal letter, but one that still contains the lighter under-tones of familiarity, is the un-contracted form twice in a row "de wa de wa".

Sore deha Mata = Sore dewa mata

Just different ways of romanisation.
Just adding, just in case

see you later is mata atodene or dewa mata atodene

and for see you ja matane or dewa matane

To the two helpful posters above...

The question was asked and answered two and a half years ago.

jamata

In Japanese, "level of politeness" is very important. "jaa ne", "ja mata" etc are so casual and you MUST NOT use them except to your close friends and colleagues.

I saw some people in this forum finished their posts with "jaa na" or something like that, which is quite inappropriate.

It may be a very old article, but it still helped me when I did a Google search.
First thing that came up, and the new info posted was quite relevant.

Just wanted to add something to what appears to be an old post but :
This as in all conversation is about how "casual" you can afford to be in your speech. Just as in English there are many many ways of saying "goodbye" depending on who you are talking to.
In this instance "sore dewa" (which actually translates to "in that case" or "therefore" ) gets shortened to "sore ja" (Dewa often gets abbreviated to "ja". It's quite acceptable when speaking to a friend (in an on-line chat or a phone call for example ) to start to bring the conversation to a close with "sore ja....." as the rest (when you plan to speak again ) may be inferred or added later. It's also quite common (in a very casual situation to end a conversation with simple..."ja ne". "Mata ne" just means...."see you later..ok". None of these shortened versions should be used in a more formal situation.
Hope this helps or at least adds a little more.

"See ya" would be "Ja ne" or "Ja mata" (or "Dewa mata", which is the formal version), which is the shortened version of "Ja mata ne" which means 'See you later'.
'I'll be in touch' would be "Mata denwa shimasu" and 'See you tomorrow' would be "Mata ashita" (or the formal version which is "Dewa mata ashita").

Ja mata ne means 'see you later'