the post office

while i’ve often said to friends visiting japan that there are many things that dont make sense in this country, i’ve never been able to pull an example out of my head. well, here’s one now:

if you want to post something but dont have an envelope at home, what would you do?

logic dictates that you’ll head to the post office so that you can get the envelope, a stamp, and post your item, right?

but nooooo.. not in japan. firstly, not all post offices sell envelopes. for that, you tend to have to go to the main post office for the ward that you’re living in – that’s like going to the main post office in, say Pasir Ris, before you can get an envelope.

secondly, the main post office in your ward might sell envelopes, but wouldnt have all sorts of envelopes. so, you might be able to send a thin document via EMS or a regular letter, but if you want to send a few CDs, you cant, as the post offices doesnt bubble-wrap lined envelopes that can fit a few CDs.

for that, you have to go to an even bigger post office – i’m not sure what’s next up on the scale, but cos i’m near the head office for Osaka City in Umeda, i was directed there.

and that’s not all. So, you can get regular envelopes for letters in any bookshop, whereas the harder to find bubble-wrap lined ones for books and other items, you’d assume that the best place to look for them would be the post office, right?

but noooooooo… post offices here DO NOT SELL THAT TYPE OF ENVELOPES AT ALL. all they have are those that can fit CDs but nothing bigger, which is frankly rather ridiculous! to get that sort of envelopes, i had to go to JUSCO, which is this (neighbourhood) departmental store that sells groceries, clothes, makeup, stationery, household products etc on its various floors. that’s like going to NTUC for the sole purpose of getting envelopes.

gahh.