AFTER decades of use, Nagasaki retired its “white postboxes” at the end of March. The mailbox-like receptacles were designed for people to drop off magazines, DVDs and other materials containing depictions of sex or violence.
The goal was to keep such materials from being disposed of on riverbanks or at parks, where they might be seen by children.
According to an expert, the first white postbox was set up in Hyogo prefecture in 1963. The trend spread to the rest of the country in 1964, when the first Tokyo Olympic Games were held, and the movement to protect children from harmful literature gained steam.
An official at the Nagasaki prefectural government said Nagasaki installed the postboxes in 1964.
More cities in Nagasaki prefecture followed, creating a faster rollout than in most other prefectures.
Currently, the postboxes still stand in 19 of the prefecture’s municipalities.
In March, three Nagasaki officials visited the nine white postboxes in the city, emptied them, and stuck notices on the receptacles that read “closed”. — The Japan News/ANN
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