Photo/Illutration A giant letter written by Zensuke Tanaka, a renowned businessman from Iga, Mie Prefecture (Takashi Konishi)

IGA, Mie Prefecture—A letter of astonishing, colossal size—the span of a school classroom—written by a wily late-19th century businessman, will be on display here starting May 11.

The letter covers a giant sheet of paper measuring 9 meters in length and width and weighs four kilograms. It was written by Zensuke Tanaka (1858-1946), who played a pivotal role in the modernization of the Iga region.

“Witness Tanaka’s passion for business and his maverick character through this letter,” said Fumiko Maeda, executive director of Maeda Kyoiku Kai (the Maeda education foundation), which has worked to restore and display the document.

Tanaka spearheaded the construction of railways and hydroelectric power plants while also engaging in landscape preservation efforts. He also built sewage systems in Ueno, now part of Iga, when he served as its mayor.

The letter, penned in 1899 and addressed to the chief priest of a local Buddhist temple, apologizes for inadvertently encroaching upon the temple’s premises while constructing a reservoir for a new rice field development project.

Written in a mixture of about 130 kanji and hiragana characters on large sheets of paper joined together, the letter humbly requests forgiveness, using phrases such as, “If you would grant me your merciful pardon, I would be overwhelmed with gratitude.”

It appears to have been written with a straw broom dipped in ink. The three characters “Sha-zai-jo” (apology letter) at the beginning are each over a meter long.

According to a biography of Tanaka, the temple’s parishioners were enraged by the encroachment on the temple’s land and demanded an apology letter from Tanaka.

The sheer size of the letter left the chief priest and the parishioners utterly speechless, and the matter was resolved peacefully.

The Maeda education foundation has been restoring and preserving the letter since 1999 when it held an exhibition showcasing the letter and other items that highlight Tanaka’s legacy.

The foundation even asked the Guinness World Records to recognize the letter, but it was not registered because there was no applicable category.

The letter will be displayed for the first time in 25 years at the foundation’s Maeda Kyoiku Kaikan, a community education center.

The show will be the last exhibition at the center’s Shomon Hall, a multi-purpose venue, which will close at the end of June due to aging facilities.

The exhibition will be held from May 11 to 16, except May 13, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.

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