2013.02.14
2011 tsunami floats Miyagi mailbox to Iriomote
A mailbox that seems that to have drifted from Minami-Sanriku Town in Miyagi prefecture as a result of the Great Kanto Earthquake and Tsunami was found at the seashore at northeast of Iriomote Island in Taketomi Town about 2,400 km away from the town of its origin. An NPO corporation, Iriomote Eco Tourism Association handed the mailbox over to Yaeyama Post Office, Feb. 4.
No mail was in the box when it was discovered.
A Yaeyama Post Office representative said that they would probably send the box to Japan Post Office Tohoku Branch, and re mulling putting it on exhibit.
The mailbox is about 60 cm tall, weighs about 20 kg, and is made of fiber-reinforced plastics.
A local resident discovered the box Dec. 20, last year.
Barnacles have stuck to the outsides of the box, and there is sand inside.
There was an identification label on the box that was checked, and indicated that the mailbox had been set up at Utatsu area in Minami-Sanriku Town at the time when the earthquake and tsunami occurred.