LOVE LETTERS
Love Letters was made in 1965. It consists of a title page and six pages of text. Here are the title page and five of the pages… 
Reproduced thanks to the understanding of the One Million Years Foundation.
And this is the page missing from the above reproduction. 
Reproduced thanks to the understanding of the One Million Years Foundation.
Now Hiroko says in her 1969 letter to Kasper Konig that On made several codes in 1965 and distributed them amongst friends but no-one could decode any of them. They were too hard. That's why the three codes Traveler's Song and Love Letters and Code (see next page) have been left by me until last. Because I knew they would be extremely difficult to crack.
In fact, I never attempted to solve Love Letters. Instead, I was given the solution on a silver platter. Let me explain…
I received the following photo from Anders Delbom. It seemed that he and Tommy Wrede had got hold of the above images from an online source (Love Letters is not reproduced in any book I know of) and had deciphered it. 
In due course, I received a full report from Tommy Wrede. Which, with his permission, I'll reproduce here.
On Kawara’s “The Love Letters”
Les Lettres d’Amour, 1965
Introduction:
We just couldn't stay away, could we? With “we” I refer to Anders Delbom and myself. After “Eight quintillion..” and “Traveler’s Song” I was meant to give myself a little break, since cracking these codes actually uses up a lot of mental power. But a week or so after “Traveler’s Song” was finished, I found myself thinking about the next one. It really is like a drug to me! So I began to search for decent pictures of the code online. And I found them. Anders and I looked at the code and discussed it, ever so lightly. We tried to find similarities to the other codes that On made this way. But both “Traveler’s Song” and “Voice from moon” use a different cipher key. So I decided to try my luck with a simple frequency analysis, just to see if it would give me some of the letters. But a few things didn’t seem right. First off, I could see that the code had four different one letter words. This made me think the code might not even be in English. Second of all, my analysis told me that all 25 letters of the alphabet showed up at least five times in just one page of code. It would be highly unlikely that for example Q or X would be that frequent in a text, if written in English. Then it dawned on us. Could there be two different cipher keys for the same code? Turns out there could!
The structure of the code:
As the title of the code suggests, it is a series of love letters. Or parts of them at least. There are two writers here, Jack and Jill. The code is simply their conversation, back and forth. One cipher key is used to translate Jack’s writing, and the other key for Jill’s. I have to say, it’s a brilliant approach! This is why my analysis came out so strange. Sometimes the code swops just after half a line or so, and sometimes it goes on for several lines.
After I got through a few lines of code using cipher key number one (Jack)… 
Anders began his work on key number two (Jill)…
A little later that day, April 9 2024, we were looking at not just one, but two nearly complete alphabets. The missing letters were simply the ones not being used in the code. That evening we completed the whole text. Or so we thought…
You see, in all the pictures we could find, there were six pages of code. Later we realized that there is actually a seventh page to the code. It even says so in the description of the On Kawara Codes 1996 box set. And eventually I found it, although not in a very good resolution. It was extremely difficult to see the colors of the strokes, and sometimes we simply had to guess and try different words that could fit within the context. I’m not sure this page is completely correct, but it seems to work.
To separate Jack from Jill I will write Jill’s text in italics. I guess all that’s missing now is for you to read the entirety of the text, so here goes:
Darling Jill, dearest Jack,
I tried yesterday to tell you how much I love you. I’m so glad you like having letters, and I don’t think I said a fraction of what I really meant. Because I feel the same way as you about having one of yours with me all the time. I thought, if ever I feel depressed about anything or miss you too badly. I might make up for that in this letter - and now I’m finding it even more difficult to put it into words! I shall just read yours again.
What I’m really trying to say, Jill dearest, is that I love you far more than I shall ever be able to express, and I just hope you can feel something of what’s going on in my heart. I shall never forget last Saturday. Life has been so utterly different since I met you - so much better, so much more wonderful - that I feel I’m only now really beginning to live. In the future I think I shall always have a special “saturday feeling”. It may sound absurd, but it’s a fact that knowing you has made me notice lots of little lovely things in everyday life that I just didn’t see before - colors in the market, sunlight on high street after rain, and things like that. We’ll put our troubles aside on Saturdays, Jack, and plan little treats for one another. It’s three months now since I first knew I loved you. We’ll make it “our day” somehow, even if we’re terribly hard up or the pipes have burst or your job’s worrying you. After yesterday I feel happier than I have ever felt in my life.
I just can’t put into words what I feel when I think about you. I’m glad you told me about noticing things more since you fell in love with me. I wonder whether you can be feeling the same about me, because I’ve found the same thing. I’m so unworthy of you that I can hardly believe you do, but after what you said yesterday I can’t help feeling you are giving me much more of your love and your thoughts than I deserve. And music seems different too - I’m beginning to understand what Mary means when she talks about it - only being a musician, she can get it without being in love, as artists see beauty. So I suppose finding one another has helped you and me get a glimpse of something geniuses are born with. It makes me feel very humble and thankful, and I really will do my best to deserve it, Jill darling, in all the years to come. I hope it stays like that, Jack, always. I mean that we go on making more out of life because we’ve got one another. Thursday seems such a long way off that I just had to write to you. Come up early on Thursday. For one thing, I felt I had to talk to you tonight before I could go to sleep. For another, I hope one day you’ll have time to send me a note. I’d love to have one to keep all the time in my wallet; it’s the next best thing to having you always with me.
All my love, all my love, darling,
Jack. Jill.
Bringing order to the chaos:
It seems a bit strange when you read it like it’s presented in the code, so I decided to put all of Jack’s text in one complete letter, and the same with Jill’s. Here goes:
Darling Jill,
I tried yesterday to tell you how much I love you, and I don’t think I said a fraction of what I really meant. I thought I might make up for that in this letter - and now I’m finding it even more difficult to put it into words! What I’m really trying to say, Jill dearest, is that I love you far more than I shall ever be able to express, and I just hope you can feel something of what’s going on in my heart. Life has been so utterly different since I met you - so much better, so much more wonderful - that I feel I’m only now really beginning to live. It may sound absurd, but it’s a fact that knowing you has made me notice lots of little lovely things in everyday life that I just didn’t see before - colors in the market, sunlight on high street after rain, and things like that. It’s three months now since I first knew I loved you. After yesterday I feel happier than I have ever felt in my life.
I just can’t put into words what I feel when I think about you. I wonder whether you can be feeling the same about me, I’m so unworthy of you that I can hardly believe you do, but after what you said yesterday I can’t help feeling you are giving me much more of your love and your thoughts than I deserve. It makes me feel very humble and thankful, and I really will do my best to deserve it, Jill darling, in all the years to come. Thursday seems such a long way off that I just had to write to you. For one thing, I felt I had to talk to you tonight before I could go to sleep. For another, I hope one day you’ll have time to send me a note. I’d love to have one to keep all the time in my wallet; it’s the next best thing to having you always with me.
All my love,
Jack.
Dearest Jack,
I’m so glad you like having letters, because I feel the same way as you about having one of yours with me all the time. If ever I feel depressed about anything or miss you too badly, I shall just read yours again. I shall never forget last Saturday. In the future I think I shall always have a special “saturday feeling”. We’ll put our troubles aside on Saturdays, Jack, and plan little treats for one another. We’ll make it “our day” somehow, even if we’re terribly hard up or the pipes have burst or your job’s worrying you. I’m glad you told me about noticing things more since you fell in love with me, because I’ve found the same thing. And music seems different too - I’m beginning to understand what Mary means when she talks about it - only being a musician, she can get it without being in love, as artists see beauty. So I suppose finding one another has helped you and me get a glimpse of something geniuses are born with. I hope it stays like that, Jack, always. I mean that we go on making more out of life because we’ve got one another. Come up early on Thursday.
All my love, darling,
Jill.
Well, that is marvellous work that Anders Delbom and Tommy Wrede have done. It just leaves me to attempt a biographical note.
According to Hiroko, Love Letters was based on 'found' letters, or letters provided by a manual. Nevertheless, I think it is reasonable to allude to the strong, loving relationship that had formed between On Kawara and Hiroko Hiraoka by 1965. So just as Traveler's Song pays tribute to the precise area that On Kawara came from, a river valley near Kariya where he was raised. It's difficult to avoid thinking that he was paying a discreet tribute to the loving bond he had formed with the woman who would go on tobe his life-long partner.
Let's try that out:
Darling Hiroko,
I tried yesterday to tell you how much I love you, and I don’t think I said a fraction of what I really meant. I thought I might make up for that in this letter - and now I’m finding it even more difficult to put it into words! What I’m really trying to say, Hiroko dearest, is that I love you far more than I shall ever be able to express, and I just hope you can feel something of what’s going on in my heart. Life has been so utterly different since I met you - so much better, so much more wonderful - that I feel I’m only now really beginning to live. It may sound absurd, but it’s a fact that knowing you has made me notice lots of little lovely things in everyday life that I just didn’t see before - colours in the market, sunlight on high street after rain, the way one day follows another so miraculously. It’s three years now since I first knew I loved you. After yesterday I feel happier than I have ever felt in my life but expect the feeling still to be there tomorrow. And the day after that.
I just can’t put into words what I feel when I think about you. I wonder whether you can be feeling the same about me, I’m so unworthy of you that I can hardly believe you do, but after what you said yesterday I can’t help feeling you are giving me much more of your love and your thoughts than I deserve. It makes me feel very humble and thankful, and I really will do my best to deserve it, Hiroko darling, in all the years to come. Thursday seems such a long way off that I just had to write to you. How special is Thursday. For one thing, I felt I had to talk to you tonight before I could go to sleep. For another, I hope one day you’ll have time to send me a note. I’d love to have one to keep all the time in my wallet; it’s the next best thing to having you always with me.
All my love,
On
Dearest On,
I’m so glad you like having letters, because I feel the same way as you about having one of yours with me all the time. If ever I feel depressed about anything or miss you too badly, I shall just read yours again. I shall never forget last Saturday. How special was that day! In the future I think I shall always have a special “Saturday feeling”. We’ll put our troubles aside on Saturdays, On, and plan little treats for one another. We’ll make it “our day” somehow, even if we’re terribly hard up or the pipes have burst or your fabulous work’s worrying you. I’m glad you told me about noticing things more since you fell in love with me, because I’ve found the same thing. And music seems different too - I’m beginning to understand what Mary means when she talks about it - only being a musician, she can get it without being in love, as artists see beauty. So I suppose finding one another has helped you and me get a glimpse of something geniuses are born with. I hope it stays like that, On, always. I mean that we go on making more out of life because we’ve got one another. Come up early on Thursday. I won't spell out the date. You've already done that.
All my love, darling,
Hiroko.
I suspect that On and Hiroko had a most powerful bond that was mutually supportive. But On's way of saying this from 1968 to 1979 was by putting Hiroko top of the list of people that he'd met on the day. And not 'top' in the sense of 'best', but simply the person he had woken up with. The person he had chosen to waken up with, day after day.
Those hundreds of 'I MET' lists can be read as love letters from On to Hiroko. Just as the 'I AM STILL ALIVE' telegram that On sent to Hiroko when he arrived in Japan in November 1970 can be. Just as the two 'I GOT UP' postcards that On sent to Hiroko from Hawaii in January 1971, shortly before he returned to her side, can be.
On Kawara came from somewhere. He loved someone. He made this clear in two, more-or-less secret works of art in 1965. And so he was in a perfect position to embark on Date Paintings at the start of 1966.
Of course, On made a third colour-coded work in 1965, called simply Code, and I really need to know what that said before I carry on with the main work I'm doing.
