Handwritten letter that turned Vietnamese nursing intern’s silent crush into love with Japanese colleague
In 2019 Hoang Khanh Duong, then 31, a Thai Binh native, went to Aichi, Japan to work as a nursing intern. With limited Japanese proficiency, he struggled to navigate and settle into life in the foreign land.
His romance began in 2020 when he went to submit a job application at a local hospital. While waiting for the elevator, he saw a nurse drop a stack of documents, and he immediately bent down to pick them up for her. “Be careful, don’t drop them again,” he said in his still-awkward Japanese.
The girl smiled and thanked him. The moment their eyes met, the young man felt as if they “had known each other from a past life”. He kept thinking about her big, round eyes for many days afterwards.
Duong and his girlfriend during their trip to Vietnam in spring 2025. Photo courtesy of Duong |
Her name was Obama Saika. A month later Duong was hired, and she coincidentally became his instructor. Day after day he patiently followed her, learning to read prescriptions, dispense medicine, and care for patients.
Despite his growing affection for her, he did not dare confess due to the language barrier and fear of cultural differences. “In Japan, if you don’t express yourself delicately, it can be considered harassment and reported to the police,” he recounts. “I was afraid of trouble, and so I only dared to show quiet care.”
Whenever Saika worked overtime, he voluntarily stayed behind to help with the paperwork. His hurried but regular gifts of bottled water and packed meals gradually make a mark on her.
Once, when he made a mistake in dispensing medicine, Saika stepped forward and took the blame for him so that he wouldn’t be reprimanded. It was this act by her that motivated Duong to confess his love.
Early in 2023, after more than two years as colleagues, Duong decided to write a letter to Saika, concluding with the message: “If you also have feelings for me, please write back.”
Two days later he mustered the courage to give her the letter. Upon reading it at home, Saika burst into tears. She had been in a few relationships but had never received such sincere handwritten lines before.
Nevertheless, she wanted time to think. One day, then two, passed without a reply, and to Duong, it felt like a whole month. “I thought of two possibilities: she either loved me or I would be reported to the police,” he giddily recalls.
On the third day Saika told him: “I also have feelings for you, Duong. Let’s take some time to get to know each other.”
She also have him her phone number and social media details. That evening, on their way home, they held hands for the first time.
He shared the news with his family in Vietnam right away, but she kept it under wraps; she wanted the relationship to be stable enough before going public, which worried him.
As an intern with a low income and not-yet-fluent Japanese, he was afraid of losing his girlfriend one day.
When he saw her laugh with male colleagues, he wanted to say something but his limited vocabulary only allowed him to blurt out: “You have a boyfriend, you shouldn’t laugh with other people.”
Saika felt controlled, and a “cold war” began and lasted days. They avoided each other during work hours. Despite this, whenever she worked overtime, he quietly stayed behind to help her with paperwork, and then walked behind her when they finished work.
After three days he texted her to apologize, admitting that he had let his insecurity take over. Saika also promised to communicate more tactfully. “Instead of feeling insecure, I had to strive to be worthy of her,” he says.
He worked and studied simultaneously, earning his nursing care certificate, passing the Japanese language proficiency test for level N2 and getting a driver’s license.
He also created social media content to increase his income. Every evening he cooked and cleaned to share the burden with her.
At the end of 2024 the couple bought their own house in Aichi. It was only then that Saika told her family about him. “My in-laws were very satisfied to know how seriously and diligently I, despite being a foreign intern, had strived to build a life in Japan,” Duong recounts.
He was secretly grateful that Saika had planned ahead, helping him maintain a dignified demeanor on the day he was introduced.
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Duong and Saika surrounded by family and friends at their wedding in December 2025. Photo courtesy of Duong |
Early in 2025 the couple visited Duong’s family in Vietnam. His mother, Huong Nga, 57, was surprised to see her future Japanese daughter-in-law roll up her sleeves to help out with everything in the kitchen. “The girl always tries to speak Vietnamese,” she says.
During her month in Thai Binh, Saika also helped neighbors in the village with injections and infusions as prescribed by doctors.
In December 2025 they held wedding ceremonies in both Vietnam and Japan. It was only then that their colleagues at the hospital learned that the two had been dating for nearly three years.
They are planning to open a private nursing home in Japan together before having their first child. The couple still keep the handwritten letter from years ago. For Duong, they are not only confessions of love, but also proof of his courage to overcome barriers and fear to grasp happiness.
“If I hadn’t taken the risk to write that letter that day, I would probably still be watching her from afar now,” he smiles, holding his wife’s hand tightly.
Saika cooking dinner for her husband. Video courtesy of Duong
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