Hiroo Santa Land (Hokkaido, Japan Post partner)

How to Write a Letter to Santa from Japan (2026)

How to send a letter to Santa from Japan — Hiroo Santa Land in Hokkaido (sister city of Drøbak, Norway). Paid service with bilingual reply.

Last verified against Hiroo Santa Land (Hokkaido, Japan Post partner) sources: May 2026

Santa's address in Japan

Santa Claus Santa Land Hiroo-cho Hokkaido 089-2692 Japan

Copy the address exactly — extra punctuation or missing lines can route the letter to the wrong sorting office.

Mailing deadline

December 10

Reply rate

paid

Postage required

Yes

Reply languages

Japanese, English

What makes this program different

→Hiroo town in Hokkaido is officially twinned with Norway's Drøbak — the only town in Asia recognised as a sister city of Santa Claus.
→The Hiroo Santa Land program is a paid service (around ¥600-1200 depending on tier) — reply arrives on Santa Land postcard with Hokkaido-printed stamps.
→Letters can be written in Japanese or English — pick the reply language when you order.
→Hokkaido kids also leave notes for the local Hiroo "Santa Office" — separate from international mail and handled in-person.

While you wait for Santa's reply

Once the letter is mailed, the wait begins. On Christmas Eve, you can watch Santa fly his sleigh through Japan in real time on our free Santa tracker. It's a privacy-first simulation that runs in your browser, no signup, no tracking — and we've been refining it for years.

A short history of the Japan Santa letter program

Hiroo, a small coastal town in southern Hokkaido, became Japan's official Santa town in 1984 when it was twinned with Drøbak, Norway — the Norwegian town that claims Julenissen as a local. The sister-city link made Hiroo the only place in Asia formally recognised in the Santa Claus network, and the Santa Land postal program followed shortly after.

Santa Land sits on a snowy hilltop above Hiroo and operates as a working tourist attraction with a Santa post office, a chapel, and a viewing tower. The paid reply service runs every November and December — order online, choose Japanese or English, and a postcard arrives with the Hokkaido Santa Land postmark.

Christmas in Japan isn't a religious holiday — under one percent of the country is Christian — but it became a major commercial and romantic event from the 1970s onward. The Hiroo program leans into the kid-friendly side that gets overshadowed by the KFC and strawberry shortcake side, and it gives Japanese families a properly official Santa to write to.

What kids in Japan traditionally ask for

🎁Japanese kids ask for the year's hot character merchandise — Pokémon, Nintendo Switch games, Sanrio plush, gachapon figures, and currently a lot of Chiikawa.
🎁Japanese Christmas Eve is more of a couples' holiday than a family one. Kids' gifts happen but the dominant cultural ritual is the Christmas cake (strawberry shortcake) and KFC's pre-ordered Christmas bucket — a tradition since a 1974 ad campaign.
🎁Santa-san is depicted as a benign foreign visitor rather than a domestic folk figure. Letters tend to be polite and a little formal — kids often thank him for coming all the way to Japan.
🎁Stocking traditions are rare. Most Japanese kids find a single wrapped gift by the pillow or under a small Christmas tree on the morning of December 25, then go to school as normal — Christmas isn't a holiday.

Sample letter template (Japan)

A starting point — change the names, the gift list, and the kind thing you did this year. Santa likes specifics over generic wish lists.

Japanese

サンタさんへ

ぼく / わたしの なまえは [なまえ] です。 [とし] さいです。 [まち] に すんでいます。

ことしは いいこに していました。 [なにか とくべつなこと — おてつだいを した、ともだちに やさしくした、がっこうで がんばった]。

クリスマスに ほしいものは：
- [いちばん ほしいもの]
- [つぎに ほしいもの]
- [ちいさな ねがい]

にほんまで きてくれて ありがとう。クリスマスケーキと ぎゅうにゅうを おいておきます。トナカイさんには にんじんを よういします。

だいすき、
[なまえ]

PS：わたしの じゅうしょは [じゅうしょ] です。おへんじを まっています！

English

Dear Santa,

My name is [name] and I am [age] years old. I live in [city, Japan].

I have been a good [boy/girl] this year. I [something specific — helped at home, was kind to my friends, did well at school].

For Christmas I would love:
- [main wish]
- [smaller wish]
- [small wish]

Thank you for coming all the way to Japan. I will leave Christmas cake and a glass of milk for you, and a carrot for the reindeer.

Love,
[name]

PS: My address is [address] so you can write back!