八本松東郵便局 (Hachihonmatsu Higashi Post Office) - Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima

Recently, I started collecting 風景印 fukeiin, or pictorial postmarks. After finding out about fukeiin, I researched which designs are available, where I could get them, and how to get there. Many of the post offices that provide fukeiin are only open on weekdays, and I would need to go to the counter to request it. Of course, I could just send a fukeiin request to any post office that I want, have them stamp them for me, and then send the postcards to the addresses written there. In fact, that would make it much easier to complete the collection. However, I believe that the journey and the experience of getting each fukeiin are just as important and meaningful as the fukeiin themselves. That means I will have to go there by myself, and it raises the difficulty by a few levels. 

Many people outside Japan believe they can travel around the country without a car because of the country's vast train network. In urban areas such as Tokyo or Osaka, that may be the case, but in the countryside, the situation is different. Although they exist, trains are more like intercity transportation. Many intracity buses run only once every 1 to 2 hours, sometimes even less, and they don’t cover all routes. Here, cars are still the main mode of transportation, and driving has become a survival skill. I used to drive for a few years when I was a teenager, but I stopped as my eyesight deteriorated. I realized I had been relying on my husband to drive me places and had used public transportation only minimally. Starting this fuukein journey means stepping out of my comfort zone.

But first, strategize. I made a list of post offices with fukeiin, the route to reach them by public transportation, and the one-way cost to get there. Most of them were in areas unfamiliar to me, but surprisingly, quite a lot of them were reachable by public transport. And then, based on the weather, my availability, etc., I would choose which post office to go to on that day. 

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Hachihonmatsu Higashi Post Office is situated in Hachihonmatsu, Higashihiroshima. The post office can be reached by taking the bus that goes between Hachihonmatsu and Saijo Station and getting off at the Shimogumi bus stop. The day I went to Hachihonmatsu Higashi Post Office, the bus was more than 5 minutes late. Normally, it would've made me a little anxious because missing a bus would've meant disaster, but fortunately, two other people were also waiting with me, and their mere presence calmed me down. Upon reaching my destination bus stop, I checked the return bus schedule and found that I had roughly 40 minutes to finish everything and board the earliest bus back. I took the obligatory "putting the postcards into the mailbox" photo for my postcard IG and went inside.

That day, I was planning to send 3 postcards: 1 to Indonesia (nonbiri mail club), 1 to Turkey (postcrossing), and 1 to a friend in Japan as a test. I was still a beginner in fukeiin, so I needed to learn how to configure my postcard writing and decoration to fit the fukeiin. The officer kindly explained to me how post offices usually stamped the fuukeiin, so I knew how to do it better next time (important note: fukeiin are bigger than regular postmarks, and if you want your fukeiin to feature prominently, you'll need a BLANK AREA around 4 cm in diameter under or next to the stamps on your postcard). After submitting my outgoing postcards to the counter, I realized that I wanted to get myself a fukeiin for my own archive, too! So right there, I bought a postcard for myself, put a stamp on it, wrote my own address, and requested a fukeiin. 

Once done, I realized I still had roughly 15 minutes until the return bus came and was craving some sweet stuff. I checked the surrounding area with Google Maps. There was a nice cafe nearby, and I had been there before, but it was closed that day. Too bad, but I guess I didn’t have time for a latte anyway (they didn’t provide latte take-aways). A few meters away from that cafe, there was a sweets shop called C’s. It looked nice and had a good review, so I went there instead. I asked for some recommendations and left with 2 sweets of the day, plus a cheesecake for my husband and me. Yum! I reached the bus stop with 3 minutes to spare. Fortunately, the bus came on time this time.

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A few days later, my postcard with the fukeiin arrived. Usually, fukeiin are round, but the one in Hachihonmatsu Higashi has a special shape: the masu. A masu is a traditional Japanese square wooden box (usually cedar or cypress), originally used to measure rice and other goods, but now primarily used for drinking sake. 

From the Japan Post official website: "To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Japan Post Service, the Hachihonmatsu Higashi Post Office held a public competition for fukeiin design. This winning design depicted cherry blossoms, Nanatsuike Park, rice, and the pine tree that gives the place its name (the ‘matsu’ from Hachihonmatsu means pine tree), contained within a masu (Higashihiroshima is a well-known sake-producing area in Japan).

The fukeiin was launched on February 8th, 2022.

I'll see you all on my next fukeiin adventure!

Cheers, 

Mulic