Photo/Illutration Be careful when you mail important letters during the Golden Week holidays.

Japan’s traditional “hikyaku” courier service network, which spanned from Yezo (present-day Hokkaido) in the north to Kyushu in the south, steadily developed during the decades of peace under the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867).

In particular, service flourished between Edo (present-day Tokyo) and the major cities of Kyoto and Osaka. Deliveries could be made in as short as four days with a “special express service” that employed multiple couriers running in turns.

Naturally, the cost was prohibitive.

A more affordable service, or “regular fast post,” employed horses, according to the book “Edo no Hikyaku” (Hikyaku couriers of Edo) by Takashi Makishima.

Depending on the price, there were various options, including six-, seven- and eight-day deliveries.

All that was in a bygone era, I thought. But I was apparently wrong, at least when looking at today’s postal situation.

During this year’s holiday-studded Golden Week, mail delivery may take as long as eight days from the day it was posted, according to a recent Asahi Shimbun report.

First, Saturday deliveries were terminated last autumn to cut labor costs. With some consecutive holidays thrown into the equation, the delivery speed this year compares with that of the ancient hikyaku service.

Japan Post Co. is reportedly reminding customers to be careful with their mail that must be delivered by a certain date.

In this age of emails and social media posts, the volume of nondigital mail continues to shrink. Is it perhaps inevitable that there will be less work available for mail carriers to keep the costs down?

The internet has made life more convenient, but it has also created “gaps.”

Online movie streaming services have phased out rental video stores, which used to be everywhere.

Even if there is a film I want to see, I’d be out of luck if the streaming service I subscribe to has taken it out of its lineup. Bookstores, too, are rapidly disappearing.

Back in the hikyaku days, “uma-zukae” (literally, horse obstruction) was the expression for a service disruption due to a shortage of horses. If a river could not be crossed because of flooding, the problem was called “kawa-zukae” (river obstruction).

In this digital age, too, all sorts of “obstructions” seem to continue to exist.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 27

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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