Koizumi suggests lower hurdle for companies to start postal business

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed his intention Tuesday to loosen conditions for companies to launch postal services by allowing them to operate fewer postboxes than stipulated by law.

Japan’s postal services are under the control of a state-backed entity, Japan Post. The mail delivery law, enacted in 2003 to set rules for entry into the business by private firms, requires new entrants to provide at least 100,000 postboxes nationwide.

The government “will create an environment to start the business as easily as possible,” Koizumi told the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors. “There is no need to fix the number at 100,000.”

No private firms have launched postal services under the law. The number 100,000 represents about 60 percent of all postboxes set up by Japan Post.