Amazing Japanese Postboxes

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.

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!

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.

yukiyama0398 Toshima. Tokyo

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.

yukoo03 Momotaro, Okayama Station

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.

zenq1124 Okinawa

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

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.

yoshiakime Ninja Hattori- kun, Shiokaze street, Toyama

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

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.

uc__ci Kitaro, Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture

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.

trntrnt Shiga

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

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.

the_pan0205 Inubosaki Lighthouse, Chiba

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.

tateitoyokoito Komagome Station, Toshima, Tokyo,

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.)

love_ytj Ikebukuro Station Post Office

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.

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.

nepoja Shinagawa Station

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?

tacchiy747 Sugamon, Sugamo Toshima, Tokyo

omaomao_midori Miyazaki Station

A list of Japan’s unusual monument mail boxes can be found here (Japanese)

pekopeko_kuro Asahiyama Zoo

mu_takezou Asakusa Orange

mu_takezou Asakusa

mu_takezou Aomori ASPAM Sight Seeing Center

moscub Kyoto Central Post Office

moruteka Tokyo

mmari1981m Zoorasia Yokohama Zoological Gardens

misari7 Osaka

mipon_n Hikone Castle, Shiga

m.saito.08 Takahama, Aichi

lunaluna_m Dazaihu Station, Fukuoka

maki_0807 Tokoname Ceramic Center, Aichi

fugumika Nagasaki Station

hanavodka Kumamoto

fu_kei_in Higashihiroshima, Sakagura-doori

fm_ym Isetan Shinjuku

fm_ym Otemachi, Tokyo

etonao Abira, Iburi, Hokkaido

dhyansukhi Fukuoka

chignon.chignon Kanazawa Station

dai_fuku_3 Naruko, Miyagi

coco_mio Nagoya Aquarium

autumn_1000 Makoto-chan, Philatelic Museum, Mejiro, Tokyo

5aki.5 Haneda International Airport, Tokyo

163chanyan Harbor Land, Kobe

Abandoned Kansai Hakodate, Hokkaido

Lion heads (獅子頭) in Sakata, Yamagata

Kappa postbox outside Tono station, Iwate

Chogosonshi-ji Temple, Nara

Pikachu, Yokohama City Hall

Yokohama

Gamagori Station

Let's keep this list going. If you have any pictures to add to Amazing Japanese Postboxes, please get in touch.

Arthor: NARA Visitor Center & Inn