illustration friday (carry)

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. You may have heard this line before, as it is often quoted in films and books. I had the vague impression it was the official creed or motto of the United States Post Office, but apparently the USPS has no such thing.  According to Wikipedia, the words derive from a paragraph in Herodotus' Histories, referring to the courier service of the ancient Persian Empire.

The version accompanying the image of a carrier pigeon (top) is what Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld novels, uses as the motto of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office. (If you love the Discworld novels, this is where you shout Hip Hip Hurrah! at the top of your voice). HIP HIP HURRAH

The etegami on the right depicts my hard-working mail carrier who is, quite literally, deterred by neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of the dark, snowy Hokkaido winters. I remember clearly when they did this all by bicycle. These days they maneuver our narrow streets, made narrower by the treacherous ice and snow, on their trusty scooters.

I will be sending this etegami to my local post office. The Japanese writing on the card is read okage-sama de, and is often translated "it's all thanks to you," but it really means much more. I have discussed this wonderful term in this post.

the japan postal service

A recent article on the thought-provoking blog Cheerio Road takes on what my cousin Karen calls the demise of the US Postal Service. Woven cleverly into the article is an introduction to the art of etegami, but you must (please) read it for yourself to see what it signifies. You may even want to try your luck with the etegami coasters giveaway. : )

Do you remember what I wrote in my January 1 post about Japanese New Year postcards? I wrote: The cards ... arrive on New Years morning in a bundle fastened with a rubber band. At the top of the bundle is a greeting from the Japan Postal Service with their best wishes for the new year. I though you might like to see this year's JPS greeting card (above), with the photo of the mailman on his red JPS motorbike, riding along a path through the rice paddies in a picturesque rural area. The writing translates as follows:

Happy New Year from the JPS group. We wish to convey our most sincere appreciation for your patronage. Ours is a country where people send their hearts to one another at the start of each new year. Once again we deliver to you-- distilled in the form of New Year postcards-- the love and thoughts of the people most dear to you. Connecting people to people, community to community. We at JPS promise to re-examine what we are fundamentally here to do, so that we can better provide you with reliable services that are worthy of your trust. January 1, 2012

The sentiments expressed here are part of why I don't think JPS is going to fade away any time soon, in spite of the internet revolution. A few years ago, I wrote a post about the JPS and its relationship to the art of etegami. Dismiss it as clever marketing if you like, but the JPS really does make itself indispensable to community life.