Japan Post to cut mail delivery offices

Japan Post has decided to stop mail delivery and collection at 1,000 primarily rural post offices by October 2007, when postal privatization begins, sources said. Currently, about 4,700 of the nation’s 24,600 post offices provide those services. The cuts are being planned despite a statement by Heizo Takenaka, state minister in charge of postal services privatization, that “in principle, post offices in underpopulated areas will be preserved.” Labor unions and others have expressed concern that, in underpopulated and rural areas, the cuts would reduce the frequency of mail collection and delivery. Post offices where mail delivery and collection would be terminated would continue over-the-counter services. In tandem with the move to reduce mail service at those post offices, about 1,100 large post offices will become regional centers to provide mail services for broader geographical areas.