This article describes how electronic mail can be used to send and receive foreign character sets, using the Japanese character set as an example. Electronic mail is fast, inexpensive, and can be stored, modified, and printed. This modern communication tool can be used to accelerate the traditional penpal process, and can act as a medium for instruction through correspondence courses. In addition, other computerized information, such as computer software and digitized speech can be sent using electronic mail. This opens many doors for future trends in computer-aided instruction (CAI).