Changes in Japanese Mailbox (1/9)

Letter Boxes

The first mailbox appeared with the introduction of the new postal service on April 20, 1871. At that time the mailbox was called a 'letter box' or 'post box.'
There were two types of letter boxes. One was used for mail destined for Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka and the other was used for mail destined for highway stops in post towns along the Tokaido Road.

Letter box for city-bound mail
This was the first mailbox
used for mail sent to the
major cities at the time that
the postal service was
established. This letter box
is said to have been used in
the Kansai region.
Letter box for mail destined for highway stops
This letter box was used for mail
destined for highway stops. Each
stop that handled mail had two
letter boxes, one for mail headed
"up" to Kyoto and the other for mail
going "down" to Tokyo.

Black Mailbox

As services developed after the establishment of the postal service, a prepaid return mail service within Tokyo was started in March 1872 and a new square pillar mailbox was provided.

Reproduction
This mailbox was adopted in
1872.It was made of Japanese
cedar which was painted black
and had the characters for
'post box' marked on the front
in white lacquer.
There is a joke from the period
about a man from the country
who misread the characters as
'urinal' and mistook the box for
a public lavatory.
This is the improved black
mailbox, also from 1872. It had
a rain cover over the letter drop
with the character for 'mail' and
the English word 'POST' marked
on it.
It had a stone base and the !!XX!!
symbol appeared on the front
surrounded by an embossed flower
pattern.
The mailbox shown in this
photograph was used from 1904.


Letter box for city-bound mail This was the first mailbox used for mail sent to the major cities at the time that the postal service was established. This letter box is said to have been used in the Kansai region.	Letter box for mail destined for highway stops This letter box was used for mail destined for highway stops. Each stop that handled mail had two letter boxes, one for mail headed "up" to Kyoto and the other for mail going "down" to Tokyo.


Reproduction This mailbox was adopted in 1872.It was made of Japanese cedar which was painted black and had the characters for 'post box' marked on the front in white lacquer. There is a joke from the period about a man from the country who misread the characters as 'urinal' and mistook the box for a public lavatory.	This is the improved black mailbox, also from 1872. It had a rain cover over the letter drop with the character for 'mail' and the English word 'POST' marked on it. It had a stone base and the !!XX!! symbol appeared on the front surrounded by an embossed flower pattern. The mailbox shown in this photograph was used from 1904.