Postal System Day

What Is Postal System Day?

Every January 24th is "Postal System Day" (郵便制度施行記念日, Yūbin Seido Shikō Kinenbi) in Japan. On the 24th day of the first month of 1871 (Meiji 4, old lunar calendar), the Postal Regulations were issued, and on the 1st day of the third month (April 20, 1871, in the Western calendar) mail service began between Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka — replacing the traditional "hikyaku" (飛脚, relay messengers) system with a national mail service modeled on the British system. The system, proposed by Hisoka Maejima (前島密), marked the birth of Japan's modern communications infrastructure and a fundamental shift in how information and correspondence flowed across the country.

From Hikyaku to Modern Post

Before 1871, correspondence across Japan was carried by hikyaku — professional relay runners who carried letters between staging posts along the major highways. The system was effective but expensive, unreliable for ordinary people, and incompatible with the needs of a modernizing nation integrating into global trade networks. Maejima Hisoka's postal reform, modeled on the British Penny Post system that had democratized correspondence in Britain from 1840, introduced prepayment by stamp; a nationwide uniform postage rate followed in 1873, the same year some 1,100 village headmen agreed to run post offices from their homes.

Maejima Hisoka: Father of Japanese Post

Maejima Hisoka (1835–1919) is honored as the "father of Japanese postal service" (郵便の父). His portrait appeared on Japan's one-yen postage stamp for many years, and his work is featured at the Postal Museum Japan (郵政博物館) in Tokyo. Maejima's reform was not just about mail delivery — he also advocated for the abolition of Chinese characters in Japanese writing (proposing a phonetic writing system) and for the rationalization of Japanese communications more broadly, making him a pioneering figure in Japan's Meiji modernization.

Japan Post Today

Japan Post (日本郵政) operates approximately 24,000 post offices nationwide — from major urban centers to remote island communities — providing mail, parcel delivery, banking, and insurance services. The postal savings system (ゆうちょ銀行, Japan Post Bank) and postal insurance (かんぽ生命, Japan Post Insurance) are major financial institutions serving tens of millions of customers, particularly in rural areas where commercial banks have reduced their presence.

Fun Facts

• First stamps: Japan's first postage stamps, issued on April 20, 1871 — the day the postal service actually began — featured a dragon design and are among the most sought-after items by Japanese philatelists.
• 〒 symbol: Japan's distinctive postal symbol 〒 (resembling a stylized "T" with a horizontal bar) is recognized throughout Japan and appears on post boxes, post offices, and postal codes on all Japanese addresses.