History of mail box
In the past,I visited Britain one time. It was such a long flight. I flew from Tokyo,Japan to London,UK,and it was non-stop flight and took about 14 hours or so. I felt like I was in the plane forever.. In the trip to Britain,I also visited other friends that lived near Manchester,UK. It was 2 week long trip.
I liked Britain a lot for beautiful parks,Buckingham palace, and nice buildings in the city,and very tasty British tea... I still remember I bought nice wooden box that had British tea bags from department store called "Harrods".
I did not realize up to today,but Japanese mailing system was set up after Britain has set up theirs. Therefore, Britain's mail box is red pillar box and Japanese mail box is also red,and we have pillar box as well. You can see pillar box in Britain here.
Some of the mail box in Japan is rectangle shaped red mail box. According to wikipedia (Japanese), Japanese pillar box nowadays is more colorful in particular city to make the characteristic of city stands out. For example,one city is famous for maccha (green tea),and their mail box is light green color. Kobe's mail box is light blue color from ocean.And one area of Tokyo has sister city in US; Portland,OR,USA and so they built American style blue mail box in the city to cerebrate 10th anniversary for the relationship.In France,mail box is yellow.You can see the picture of those on Wikipedia (Japanese).
So,how did Britain come up with mail box?
According to anthonytrollope.com, a man named "Anthony Trollope" introduced the idea of mail box in 1854. The box was originally sage color but it was painted in red in 1874.
Did you know that Britain was first country that set up the mailing system?
BBC reports that it was Sir Rowland Hill that introduced the mailing system to Britain.He has introduced penny per half ounce of mail if delivered within UK.
Also,if you look Britain mail box very closely,you may find "VR","ER II","ER VII","GR" etc. What are they?? It is a symbol of King or Queen that was reigning the country on that particular time of the period.You can read anatomy of the mail box in Britain here.
In Japan,when you mail your stuff,you either drop them into public mail box or visit post office. Each house does have mail box to receive their mail box. It is usually small box with flip top that is large enough to slide mail in to the box.
This is one of another culture shock story for me or my family here in the states. Here in US,you can write letters and put it in your own mail box outside flag up, and mailman comes and pick them up to mail for you! It never happens in Japan. My parents were wowed to find out we do not need to go to post office to mail small letters that fits into our mail box to mail.
In Japan, mailman ride motorbike with mail in the mail container on its back. They don't use cars. Maybe because motorbike is much convenient to ride through narrow street etc. America's roads are very wide spread and spacey. I always feel Japanese roads are narrow and crowded when we back to Japan to visit my family.
If you have a chance to visit Britain and Japan, take closer look to mail box in 2 countries. You would find it interesting to look at.
I liked Britain a lot for beautiful parks,Buckingham palace, and nice buildings in the city,and very tasty British tea... I still remember I bought nice wooden box that had British tea bags from department store called "Harrods".
I did not realize up to today,but Japanese mailing system was set up after Britain has set up theirs. Therefore, Britain's mail box is red pillar box and Japanese mail box is also red,and we have pillar box as well. You can see pillar box in Britain here.
Some of the mail box in Japan is rectangle shaped red mail box. According to wikipedia (Japanese), Japanese pillar box nowadays is more colorful in particular city to make the characteristic of city stands out. For example,one city is famous for maccha (green tea),and their mail box is light green color. Kobe's mail box is light blue color from ocean.And one area of Tokyo has sister city in US; Portland,OR,USA and so they built American style blue mail box in the city to cerebrate 10th anniversary for the relationship.In France,mail box is yellow.You can see the picture of those on Wikipedia (Japanese).
So,how did Britain come up with mail box?
According to anthonytrollope.com, a man named "Anthony Trollope" introduced the idea of mail box in 1854. The box was originally sage color but it was painted in red in 1874.
Did you know that Britain was first country that set up the mailing system?
BBC reports that it was Sir Rowland Hill that introduced the mailing system to Britain.He has introduced penny per half ounce of mail if delivered within UK.
Also,if you look Britain mail box very closely,you may find "VR","ER II","ER VII","GR" etc. What are they?? It is a symbol of King or Queen that was reigning the country on that particular time of the period.You can read anatomy of the mail box in Britain here.
In Japan,when you mail your stuff,you either drop them into public mail box or visit post office. Each house does have mail box to receive their mail box. It is usually small box with flip top that is large enough to slide mail in to the box.
This is one of another culture shock story for me or my family here in the states. Here in US,you can write letters and put it in your own mail box outside flag up, and mailman comes and pick them up to mail for you! It never happens in Japan. My parents were wowed to find out we do not need to go to post office to mail small letters that fits into our mail box to mail.
In Japan, mailman ride motorbike with mail in the mail container on its back. They don't use cars. Maybe because motorbike is much convenient to ride through narrow street etc. America's roads are very wide spread and spacey. I always feel Japanese roads are narrow and crowded when we back to Japan to visit my family.
If you have a chance to visit Britain and Japan, take closer look to mail box in 2 countries. You would find it interesting to look at.
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