A Visit to Takanawa Post Office

Happy Wednesday! Today was an extra special day. We made a visit to Takanawa Post Office!

TAKANAWA POST OFFICE

We didn’t have time for circle time or playing at the park today. As soon as we arrived in Flowers Class, we ate our snack and prepared to leave. We were surprised that we were eating our snack so early! We went downstairs and met some our parents, who would accompany us on our field trip.

We all walked to the bus stop, where we would catch the public bus. We had practiced what to do earlier this week. We knew that we needed to be quiet and that we will need to stand because there will be other people who are using the bus. When we got to the bus stop, we waited patiently in line and watched for our bus, number 96. The bus arrived and there weren’t many other people, so some of us were able to sit down. We were so quiet! We did a great job!

We got off the bus at the correct stop and walked a little bit further until we finally reached Takanawa Post Office. When we arrived, there were many postal workers waiting to greet us. They welcomed us to the post office and told us what they were going to show us.

The first thing we saw was a red postal box on the sidewalk in front of the post office. They showed us that there are two slots; one for big envelopes and one for small envelopes. We were able to watch as various people put mail in the slots. Then they showed us how the postal workers open the box with a big key to retrieve the mail. Inside the box were two bags, orange and blue. The bags hold the mail safely until the postal workers come by to pick it up.

After that, we went around to the back of the post office where they keep the red trucks! There was a surprise guest waiting for us. We met Posukuma, the very cute and fluffy mascot of the post office. We all hugged Posukuma for a long time! We all loved Posukuma so much that we would have been content to end the tour right then, but we needed to move on. We were about to see something amazing next!

From there, we went inside the post office. We saw many workers doing their job as we made our way to the mail sorting machine. It was huge! This machine takes all the letters and separates them based on their postal code. That way it’s much easier for them to find their way to their destination. We saw the machine take the letters and move them around very quickly and place them in separate slots. It was so fast! We learned that the mail sorting machine can sort 30,000 letters or 60,000 postcards in one hour! If this machine didn’t exist, it would take so much time for our mail to get delivered.

Next, we went to the area of the post office where they sort packages. There was no machine here, just one worker manually sorting the packages one by one. But she was still really fast! Packages from convenience stores and smaller post offices come here to be sorted and delivered across Japan. There were even packages that were headed to different countries. Takanawa Post Office receives 1,500 packages and delivers 4,000 packages every day!

After seeing how mail gets to the post office, it was time to see how it gets delivered to homes and businesses. We saw one of the red mopeds that deliver the mail. There was a big box on the back where the mail is held, and even a small rack on the front for a mail bag. We found out that this vehicle used to be powered by gasoline but is now powered by electricity. It has two big batteries that weigh 10kg each!

We also saw one of the red post office vans up close! We learned that this vehicle is also electric, and many electric ones are replacing the old gasoline powered vans. This van had a cute decal of our new friend Posukuma on the side!

QUESTION TIME

Now it was time for the postal workers to answer the questions we submitted about the post office!

Q1 – Do postal workers sleep?

A1 – Yes, there are some workers who work during the day and sleep at night, and there are others who work at night and sleep during the day.

Q2 – How do know where to take the mail when there is a new building or new home?

A2 – Postal workers check the house to find out who lives there. Postal workers know the streets very well and they know where to go.

Q3 – What happened to K. san? (K. san worked at the post office and talked to us about the post office over ZOOM over the last few years.)

A3 – Unfortunately, he suddenly got very sick and passed away. It happened very quickly and he didn’t suffer pain. He didn’t have a wife or kids, but I think he had someone special who cared about him.

REQUEST FOR FLOWERS CLASS

On behalf of K. san and everyone else at the post office, they requested that we do two things…

1- Take care of and cherish your friends.

2- Grow healthy and graduate from Ohana as good people.

PICTURES / GIFTS

We gave the postal workers our gifts that we had been working on for a long time. We gave them two papier-mache tissue covers and one flower pen holder. We also received very generous gifts from the post office!

We all took many pictures with the postal workers, postal van, and even Posukuma!

END

Before we left, the Postmaster came out to greet us. He talked to us briefly and then concluded our post office visit by doing itcho-jime, clapping our hands together one time to signify the end of an event.

Today's visit to Takanawa Post Office was really amazing! We all had such a great time learning about how our mail makes it from one place to another. It was a day that we won’t soon forget!

Thank you, Takanawa Post Office!

Love Flowers,

XOXO