Japanese twist to post boxes - 205 of these are major tourist attractions in Japan

Japan loves to give a twist to an ordinary product and its post boxes are the latest of these. At present, there are 205 of these special post boxes around Japan and they have become quirky tourist attractions for locals and visitors. Post boxes are usually nondescript items seen as boring, but practical objects. However, the Japanese have added a little twist to the concept. In Japan, post boxes can be of different shapes - the variety includes cartoon characters to bird houses. And - at times, they are also decorated with special items.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 17 June 2016.

These unique 'decorated' post boxes are dotted all over Japan. There is a website devoted to these where one can see photographs as well as a map revealing their exact location. The first of these was seen in 1952 - it was to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Japan Postal Service joining the Universal Postal Union.
Later, towns and cities began to design them as mini-tourist attractions. The small fishing town of Susami holds the Guinness World Record for the deepest underwater post box according to Japan Times. It is very popular with divers, who can purchase water-resistant postcards to send via the post box located 33ft below the surface of the sea. The mail is collected by the local post office once every couple of days to dispatch them via normal mail.
The latest in the list of memorial post boxes are four monuments unveiled in the town of Tobe in April this year - these are topped with the local pottery to promote the town's handcraft.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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