writing a letter to host family?

Hi, I thought of writing a Christmas greeting card to my host family and I have few questions in relations to this.

1. Since I will be writing in Japanese (since they don't understand English), what would be the equivalent of usually written phrase, "Dear [name]"?

2. How should I greet them as a family? In English, we could write, "Dear Jackson Family". Is there a way like that in Japanese? Because I don't want to miss any member of their family but not by listing them all as : "dear okaasan, otousan, etc.".

3. In the envelope, since I will be writing their address in English, is it more polite to address the letter to my host father? I am asking because I know Japan is a patriarchal family. Though I am closer to my host mother.

4. What kind of gift would be good to come along with the card?

thank you!

1. You can simply write 鈴木様. There is a way to write 親愛なる　鈴木様 (Dear Mr. Suzuki) but I find that somewhat of a literal translation from English.

2. You could write 鈴木家の皆さま (to everyone in the Suzuki family).

3. For the envelope, if you have the full name of the host father and are writing in Japanese:
鈴木太郎様
　　　ご家族様

If you are writing in English:
Mr. Taro Suzuki and family
...should be fine.

4. Do you know what they like? :)

Whoops! The above was supposing it's Mr. Taro Suzuki and his family you are writing to.

Hi AK, this is lastmockingbird.

sorry I forgot to sign in.

Thank you for your reply.

Actually, Suzuki is not the real family name of my host family.

May I ask you to write the corresponding hiragana of the kanji as I cannot really read kanji that much.

as for their likes, I am not really sure. I wanted to send just postcards but can't find good ones. so i thought i might send some stuff they can use as a family.

also, how do I end the letter? In English we say, "sincerely, lastmockingbird". How do I do that in japanese?

thank you!

I just wanted to say that I wrote the above using "Mr. Taro Suzuki" just as an example :)


1. 鈴木様　in hiragana: すずき　さま
The literal translation of "Dear Mr. Suzuki" 親愛なる　鈴木様　in hiragana: しんあいなる　すずき さま

2. 鈴木家の皆さま　in hiragana: すずきけ の　みなさま

3. 鈴木太郎様
　　　ご家族様
in hiragana:
すずき たろう　さま
ごかぞく　さま


About closing for the letter: since it's a friendly letter (not business or really formal), I would just end it with something along the line of "please stay well." みなさま　おげんきで　おすごし　ください

you may want to include an apologie as in ''Please forgive my poor japanese but love and appreciation doesnt have a language barrier hopefully my words reach your hearts for they are heartfelt...You're family has made a positive diffrence in my life and i will never forget you ...( of course in a japanesie way)good luck!