Amid today’s advanced technology especially in the field of communication, the art of handwritten letters seem long forgotten. But did you know some enthusiasts still write and mail letters? While this may not be the case with Mr. Kaor, let’s find out why he wrote letters to the Hotel Spaander in the Netherlands.

A Japanese man named Mr. Kaor has been sending the same letter to a hotel in the Netherlands. Hotel Spaander has consistently received a letter from the mysterious Japanese for the last forty years.

The Mysterious Letters of Mr. Kaor

The Hotel Spaander in Volendam in the Netherlands has been receiving mysterious letters daily. These letters have made their way to the hotel for the past 40 years.

The letters always came in the same airmail envelopes, with the red and blue patterned edges. Written on all envelopes was;  The most artistic hotel in the Netherlands. Each envelope was sealed with colorful Japanese stamps, showing that all of the letters originated from Nagao, Kagawa.

And all the letters have the same message, with only a few discrepancies in the number of words and on the date, the letter was written. It always reads:

Dears Sirs:

How are you and how is the weather?

Thank you very much

-for sending me some informations

-the other day.

Please give my best regards

-to all the members.

Yours faithfully,

Mr. Kaor

Chris Noorstrand, the general manager of the Hotel Spaander, first noticed the letter while working as a consultant for the hotel in 2014. The letters caught his attention when he saw the hotel staff discarding them, all unopened. When he asked about it, they told him the story behind the letters and how the hotel has been receiving them for the past decade or so. (Source: Het Parool)

Why Did Mr. Kaor Send These Letters? 

The interesting story of the letters caught the attention of Lex Boon. Boon is a journalist in the daily newspaper Het Parool. He was astonished about the story and decided to investigate further. He noticed very small discrepancies throughout the years that the letters were written.

Boon brought the letters to the chairman of the Dutch Association of Graphologists to see if he could figure out details on the writer’s identity. De Monchy, the chairman, confirmed that the writer was male. But he noticed that some of the latest letters showed signs of mental deterioration, similar to those seen in aging people. The writer took more effort in writing the letters, based on the strokes of the words.

Boon felt that his time was running out, so he immediately flew to the return address once an associate in Japan confirmed it. He discovered that a certain Kaor Yamamoto from a quiet town of Iza near Takamatsu was the man behind the letters.

Boon reached the humble home of the elderly Mr. Kaor, who was a retired gardener who lives with his older father. During the interview, Boon discovered that Kaor has not been to the Netherlands or intends to go there. Kaor mentions that he just likes the Netherlands because his father was born in the year of the mouse.
The Japanese word for mouse is nezumi, but when pronounced, it sounds like the Netherlands. He and his father grew strawberries in their garden, which they both knew were popular in the Netherlands. Boon uncovered that Kaor had a pen pal from the Netherlands long ago. Kaor never knew that he was writing to a hotel. He just wrote to Volendam, where his fascination with the city is because it started with the letter V, which is the 22nd letter of the English alphabet, which coincides with his birthday, the 22nd. (Source: Het Parool)