Amazing Japanese Postboxes

4 min read

Post box, Japanese post boxes, Nara, visit Nara,

Japan is a country that doesn’t do ordinary and nothing personifies this more than Kawaii culture. In a land of anime, dedicated product characters, ubiquitous city mascots, Lolita fashion, J-pop and cosplay, nothing is immune from receiving the cutesy treatment.

And Japanese postboxes are no exception. Many of them are simply amazing.

Our eye was initially caught by a truly breathtaking Game Boy themed postbox posted to Twitter (now X) by user @7bXNGnHc1EgqvfS, who claims he stumbled across it while searching for somewhere to fish!

Post box, Japanese post boxes, Nara, visit Nara, Gameboy

7bXNGnHc1EgqvfS Game Boy, Kagawa

We searched for more details online but unfortunately came up blank. However, what we did discover was that this postbox is not just a quirky anomaly in the mountains of Kagawa Prefecture, but one in a long line of memorial postboxes scattered the length of breadth of the country.

demon slayer, Post box, Japanese post boxes, Nara, visit Nara,

yukiyama0398 Toshima. Tokyo

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Todai-ji Temple roof, JR Nara Station

We immediately jumped on Instagram to see what we could find and were not disappointed. We reached out to as many users as possible and asked for permission to use their pictures. We were overwhelmed by the response and their generosity with many commenting how excited they were at being able to help share Japanese culture with the rest of the world via

The Sarusawa Blog.

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yukoo03 Momotaro, Okayama Station

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Uji Station, Kyoto

The fascinating history behind these creative postboxes is detailed below, but for now, please enjoy the pictures we have to offer you courtesy of Japanese Instagram users. Please show your appreciation to them by following and liking their posts. All handles are provided below each picture.

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zenq1124 Okinawa

Post box, Japanese post boxes, Nara, visit Nara, hyogo

shurikeiko1 Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork, Toyooka, Japan

Amazingly enough, Japan also holds the current Guinness World Record for the deepest underwater postbox at a depth of 10 meters off the coast of Susami, Wakayama Prefecture. Some 1,000 to 1,500 items of mail are here annually.

underwater mailbox www.asoview.com

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ura_wa_tama Saitama Prefectural Office

Japan built its first artistic “kinen post” or memorial postbox, a stone mailbox topped with a statue of a trumpet playing cherub, outside the Tokyo Chuo Post Office to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Japan Postal Service joining the Universal Postal Union in 1952.

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yoshiakime Ninja Hattori- kun, Shiokaze street, Toyama

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Red Brick, Tokyo Station Mailbox

The second monument mailbox, commemorating the promulgation of the peace treaty that ended World War 2, was built in Hiroshima later that same year.

tigger_papa88 Hiroshima Peace Park

Post box, Japanese post boxes, Nara, visit Nara, aomori

Apple Mailbox, Hirosaki City Aomori

A third one marking the construction of a new train station in Kanazawa came in 1954, and the fourth monument postbox (commemorating the 100th anniversary of the postal services joining the Universal Postal Union) didn’t come until 1977.

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uc__ci Kitaro, Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture

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Panda Mailbox, Uneno Zoo

The first 4 monument postboxes were all made to be permanent or long lasting facilities and they were all rectangular mailboxes with a sculpture on top.

Post box, Japanese post boxes, Nara, visit Nara, shiga

trntrnt Shiga

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Castle Mailbox, Kumamoto

In 1985 a time capsule shaped mailbox was unveiled at the Tsukuba Banpaku Science Museum in Ibaraki Prefecture commemorating the sealing of a time capsule at the museum. In a departure from previous monument postboxes, the time capsule postbox was only in place for 6 months and it was designed to make passersby want to use it because it was fun and unusual.

tigermaskthe2 Omiya Station, Saitama

Post box, Japanese post boxes, Nara, visit Nara, shimane

saechin.ciel | Matsue city, Shimane

This idea caught on and more monument postboxes based on this concept popped up across the nation. Some of these new postboxes continued the original idea of marking an important anniversary, some were used to mark unique locations (such as the 0km point of the Yamanote Line at Tokyo Station) or to reflect and convey the character, history or a symbol of their municipality.

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the_pan0205 Inubosaki Lighthouse, Chiba

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ry.yandy Takamatsu, Kagawa

Many cities and towns went all out and designed truly unique postboxes that became mini-tourist attractions in an of themselves.

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tateitoyokoito Komagome Station, Toshima, Tokyo,

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route_17_from_ina Fujiya Hotel

Instances of monument mailboxes being created to promote local areas has increased in recent years. In 2014 Tokyo’s Toshima Ward installed a yellow owl-shaped postbox outside the Ikebukuro Eki-mae Post Office as part of its urban development and tourism promotion efforts (Toshima Ward’s mascot is an owl because the ward’s shape looks like an owl in flight.)

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love_ytj Ikebukuro Station Post Office

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pponzu _Yatagarasu Kumano Hongu Shrine, Wakayama

In April of 2016, the town of Tobe in Ehime Prefecture unveiled 4 monument postboxes topped with Tobe-yaki china pottery.

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Tobe Ehime, Tobe Tourism

This effort was to promote the town of Tobe and its signature pottery to domestic travelers ahead of a big political conference held there the following year.

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nepoja Shinagawa Station

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tarako_tarara Takeo Post Office, Saga

Silk Road, Shinomiya Central Postoffice, Nara

Japan’s unique postboxes are yet another fun thing for visitors to keep their eyes open for and a reason to step off the beaten track during their travels. The story and history behind a Game Boy shaped postbox lurking in the mountains of Kagawa Prefecture remains unclear at the time of this article’s writing. Up for a scavenger hunt?