Japan’s Missing Post Office: Where Lost Letters Find a Home
Wednesday Post: Read about Japan’s Missing Post Office, explore the local life of Spiti Valley, know about Vietnam's Must-To-Do, plan a Cherry Blossom trip to Japan with Tripoto
It's a belief held close to the hearts of many Japanese that when death touches our near ones, they don’t go away. Their spirits stay near us, and their love never fades. Maybe that is what has found its home in the Missing Post Office of Japan.
Nestled on Awashima Island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, the Missing Post Office, also known as a dead post office, stands as a test of time, bridging a strange unsaid connection between human emotions.
But how did this Post Office in Japan become the Missing Post Office? Until the 1990s, Awashima had a flourishing port crowded by sailors, sending notes to their families via telegram. Once the operations ceased, so did the need for this post office. But the letters, they never stopped coming. It was in 2013 when artist Saya Kubota transformed this place into a sanctuary of unsent letters and unspoken emotions for Setouchi Triennale that people came to know about the existence of such emotions piled up in closed envelopes.
At the heart of this is Katsuhisa Nakata, the 90-year-old retired postmaster who once oversaw the original Awashima Post Office. Donning his uniform every other Saturday now, Nakata welcomes visitors into this haven, now converted into the Missing Post Office, where you can come, read letters, and also send letters to those who are far, far away to receive anyway.
Nakata remembers the love, sorrow, and longing each words carry. You will be surprised to know that this Missing Post Office receives 10 to 20 letters daily from those seeking closure, comfort, or simply a means to express emotions that have no other outlet.
So the next time you are in Japan, you know what’s missing from your itinerary, right?
It’s the Missing Post Office.
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This newsletter was packed tighter than a backpacker’s rucksack, but here it is, ready to take you on another adventure!
See you next week - until then, let’s keep wandering and wondering!
Adieu,
Sreyashi Paul