風景印めぐり日記 ~Fukeiin Diaries~

It's been a while since I last posted here. I have been going to post offices to collect fukeiin, send postcards, and explore the surrounding areas as usual, but I have been very slow to update my social media or even my postcard swap journal; the backlog is crazy lol.  However, I've been updating the Hiroshima Fukeiin page with all the post offices I have visited so far, so you can find the information there. After doing a quick check, I realized I've been visiting more than 30 post offices with fukeiin in Hiroshima so far. Not too bad. I hope to visit many more post offices, especially in other cities.  HIT Hiroshima Ambassador Event Some of you might already know, but earlier this year, I officially became a HIT Hiroshima Tourism Ambassador (you can read more about it here) . As an ambassador, I get invited to events and stuff, and this day was one such day. I received an email inviting me to the launch of new Hirokuma manholes.  Hirokuma is the official mascot chara...

Dozens of fukeiin are launched and canceled annually, so as a fukeiin collector, I regularly check the Japan Post official website for new ones. First-day fukeiin is something I've always wanted, and fortunately, one of the fukeiins launched on this day was from a post office easy to reach: Nishi Takaya Ekimae. Cafe Most I've passed Nishi-Takaya Station a few times before, but it was my first time alighting. The station building was renovated recently, so everything felt new. I hadn't had lunch yet, so I was looking for a place where I could have lunch and a cup of coffee. A quick Google search pointed me towards a place called Cafe Most. Cafe Most is located on a small street behind the main road. If you're going there on foot from the Nishi Takaya Station, the map might show you a questionable route, but you'll get there, lol. The cafe building is a renovated old house. I like the vibes already. Entering the cafe, the owner informed me that lunch service was alre...

If you're wondering why the thumbnail image is different from usual... well, there's a story to it. Keep reading to find out what happened 🤣 The Last Days of Hiroshima Castle Tenshukaku Last year, my husband and I saw the news that Hiroshima Castle would be closed indefinitely in March 2026. We've been to the castle park and the Ninomaru, but never actually went inside the Tenshukaku (main keep). And so, we decided to visit Hiroshima Castle two days before it was scheduled to close. ... which was a bad idea, since apparently hundreds of other people also had the same idea. There were so many people that they had to do a timed-ticket system. Fortunately, we only had to wait for an hour, so we went to Pacela to kill some time. The current Hiroshima Castle was rebuilt in the 1960s after it was completely destroyed in the 1945 atomic bomb, as it was located near ground zero. Unlike Himeji Castle or Matsumoto Castle, though, the interior had been completely rebuilt, so it migh...

Hiroshima Komachi Post Office On this day, I finished my work early, so I had just enough time to go to a post office before it closed at 5pm. Among the postcards I was planning to send, there was one featuring the Genbaku Dome, so I thought, "Let's find a post office that offers a fukeiin with a Genbaku Dome image." I did a bit of research and decided to go to the Hiroshima Komachi Post Office.  The Hiroshima Komachi post office is very accessible, and there are a couple of ways to reach the post office: Take the bus from Hiroshima Station (no. 101 or 102) to Shirakamisha-mae and walk 170 m (around 3 minutes). Take the Hiroden Streetcar Route 1 from Hiroshima Station to Chuden-mae and walk 200 m (around 4 minutes). Take the Astram Line from Shin-Hakushima Station to Hondori, then walk 650 m (about 9 minutes). The post office is located only 600 m (about 9 minutes on foot) from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, so it's a good idea to get the fukeiin there to send ...

It's been a few days since my last post. Work and life had been hectic, and I didn't have the energy to write. However, I'd like to celebrate that I've been collecting fukeiin for 2 months now and have visited more than 20 post offices . Also, thanks to everyone who has visited the blog. I'll keep adding useful content to all articles, so it might be worth revisiting old ones once in a while.  *** Kure Tennoshioya-cho On this day, I first visited the Saka Post Office . I overlooked the train frequency and had to cancel my original plans. For the second post office I was going to visit, I had planned a different one, but I thought the Kure Tenno post office fukeiin was more interesting, so I ended up choosing it. At this point, I had no idea what I was about to experience, lol.  Kure Tenno post office can be reached by taking the Kure Line to Tenno Station. From there, it's a 550m walk (around 8 minutes). I was wondering why there are so few local trains along t...

Got some great news today. My meeting was postponed to another day, so I got a full day off! Hurray! A perfect opportunity to go a little out of my way to get some fukeiin. On this day, I planned to visit two post offices along the Kure Line. I had a few choices in mind, but I would let timings and train schedules decide my fate. Yay to serendipity! *** Saka-cho Hiroshima First things first, I've got to be honest with you all. This was my first time on the Kure Line. I had assumed that the Kure Line operation would be the same as the Sanyo Line, but I was wrong. There are two types of regular trains on the Kure Line: the local train, which stops at every station, and the Akiji Liner, a rapid service that connects Hiroshima and Kure Station in just 30 minutes. The post offices I planned to visit were mostly near local train stations, and between 10:00 and 16:00, the local train only comes once every hour. My plan was already in jeopardy, but I would adapt and prevail! Finally, I ...