The Mainichi Shimbun answers some common questions readers may have about postal rate hikes in Japan.
Question: I hear postcard and stamp prices have gone up from this month. Is that true?
Answer: Japan Post Co. implemented a significant revision to postage and handling fees starting Oct. 1. The postcard rate was raised from 63 yen to 85 yen (from roughly 44 cents to 59 cents), and the rate for standard-size sealed letters weighing up to 25 grams from 84 yen to 110 yen (from approx. 58 cents to 76 cents) per item. Overall, the rates went up by roughly 30%.
Q: Why are they raising the rates to begin with?
A: It has become common for people to communicate via email and social media, and the volume of postal items has been on the decline since peaking in fiscal 2001 at around 26.2 billion items, down to about half at 13.6 billion items in fiscal 2023.
Meanwhile, the mail business has been in the red since fiscal 2022 amid soaring labor and fuel costs. To maintain postal services, Japan Post carried out the full-scale rate hike for the first time in 30 years, except for price changes due to consumption tax increases in the past.
Q: Aren’t they lacking managerial efforts?
A: Japan Post is attempting to boost its earning ability through automation and partnerships with other companies, but those efforts are not enough. Meanwhile, the mail business is defined by the law as a “universal service” equally accessible to everyone, with rates kept as inexpensive as possible and flat nationwide. Being unable to pursue greater profits than necessary, Japan Post has no system for frequent rate hikes in place.
Q: Will postal rates continue to rise moving forward?
A: The latest rate hike will help Japan Post become profitable in fiscal 2025, but the company is expected to fall into the red again in fiscal 2026, with the deficits growing further from then on out. As the volume of mail items will hardly pick up in the future, further rate hikes appear to be inevitable. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications set up a new panel of experts this July and has been discussing ways the postage system should be managed.
(Japanese original by Shiho Fujibuchi, Business News Department)
News Navigator: Why have Japan’s postal rates been raised?
