Green postbox delivers letters to the departedーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
here in Japan postal mailboxes are typically red however one sitting in a Buddhist temple in Kyoto is a little different it’s green this special mailbox accepts letters to the deceased from their loved ones in our next report we meet one family who finds comfort in writing to their late son priests of Daoji Temple in Kyoto Prefecture are performing a sacred ritual they’re burning letters with no stamps or addresses written to the deceased the green mailbox on the temple grounds collects around 600 letters a year i wanted to send a letter to my grandmother who died 6 months ago i wrote 10 letters today my grandparents uncle and aunt often appear in my dreams so I feel the letters really are being delivered to them the temple originally used it as an offeratory box painting it green to avoid confusion with a real post box however one day the head priest found something unexpected inside when I opened the box to collect the offerings I found a letter addressed to a lost child i realized it was important to have a place to express one’s feelings to the deceased and stay connected to them the family of Yamada Nagatoshi also has a loved one they wish to connect with through the green mailbox we came to send a message to our eldest son USA who passed away last August you was born in 2008 weighing just 840 g he led a life prone to illness when Usay was 10 years old he received a kidney transplant from his father but his condition gradually deteriorated as multiple organs began to fail you died at the age of 15 i stayed at the hospital until around 10:30 p.m but went home a little earlier than usual that day because his condition seemed stable so I wasn’t with him at his final moment i couldn’t regret that more on the day of the ritual the letter he wrote to his son goes into the sacred fire dear you say thank you for being born you were truly a strong child who never gave in to illness i only have regrets you say “I know you saved us a few times please continue to watch over us from the sky.” The letter disappears in the flames then a single flake of ash slowly floats past the Yamada family before flying up into the sky you say loved his mother the most so he must have come to her i felt like you say was telling me to look at him so I glanced up the words I hadn’t been able to say to him until now finally reached him the temple also offers pen and paper for those who wish to write letters while visiting in the hope the special green mailbox will continue to help heal the sorrow of as many people as possible
In Japan, postal mailboxes are typically red. However, one sitting in a Buddhist temple in Kyoto is a little different: it’s green. This special mailbox accepts letters to the deceased from their loved ones. This report spotlights a family who finds comfort in writing to their late son. #japan #kyoto #children #family #buddhist #temple
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