Postal Day

What Is Postal Day?

Every April 20th is "Postal Day" (郵政記念日, Yūsei Kinenbi) in Japan. On April 20, 1871, Japan's modern postal service was officially inaugurated, with service initially running between Tokyo and Osaka. The system was designed by Maejima Hisoka (前島密), an official of the Meiji government who had studied postal systems in Britain, and it followed the fundamental principles of the British penny-post model: standard rates regardless of distance, prepayment by stamp, and universal service. April 20th marks the day this system — which would eventually reach every corner of Japan — took its first operational steps.

Maejima Hisoka and the Birth of Japanese Mail

Maejima Hisoka is celebrated as the "father of Japanese postal service" and his portrait appeared on the one-yen postage stamp for many years. Before the modern postal system, communication across Japan was handled by a relay system of messengers (飛脚, hikyaku) — fast runners who carried letters and packages between post stations. The system worked for urgent private correspondence but was expensive, unreliable, and inaccessible to ordinary people. Maejima's new postal system — affordable, standardized, and open to all — democratized communication across Japan.

The Evolution of Japan Post

Japan Post (日本郵政) today is one of the world's largest postal and financial institutions. Its network of approximately 24,000 post offices across Japan — including in remote island communities and mountain villages — handles mail, packages, banking services, and life insurance. The postal savings system (郵便貯金) was for decades one of the world's largest savings institutions. Japan Post was privatized in 2007 after a hotly contested political debate.

Japan's Stamp Culture

Japan has one of the world's most vibrant philatelic (stamp collecting) cultures. Japan Post issues commemorative stamps for virtually every significant event, season, and cultural occasion, and limited-edition stamp sets are popular gifts. Stamp design is taken seriously as a form of applied art, and notable designers and artists have been commissioned to create Japanese postage stamps.

Fun Facts

• First stamps: Japan's first postage stamps, issued in 1871, featured a dragon design and were printed in several denominations — among the most beautiful of the world's earliest stamps.
• Postal codes: Japan introduced seven-digit postal codes (〒) in 1998, enabling fully automated mail sorting and next-day delivery within major urban areas.
• The post office network: Japan's post office network reaches every inhabited island and remote mountain community, making it one of the most extensive in the world relative to the country's area.