WS: Pen Pals for Students

In line with this week's articles on making new friends with pen pal services, we'd also like to introduce a pen pal service that can be adapted for use in the classroom:

Pen Friend Clubs of Japan is a program run by the Japanese Postal Service to match up Japanese junior high and senior high school students with overseas pen pals.

If you are a teacher in Japan, the applications page is in Japanese, but you can print out applications for individual students to fill out or applications for a whole class or club of students.

If you are a teacher overseas and want to find Japanese pen pals for your students, use an application from the English page.

In either case, send the completed application to:

Pen Friend Clubs of Japan

Postage Stamps and Postcards Office
Mail Business Division
Japan Post Service Co., Ltd.
Tokyo 100-8798 JAPAN

The Japan Post Office will send a reply to the address listed as soon as they find a match for your student(s). The service is completely free.