Letters carry stories. But what if the letters are lost? Where is home?
Hello to you Michelle, listening in lovely Victoria by the sea, BC, CanadaLand!
Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit more for a story) for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga.
I am a story doula. I believe that stories are alive! They can follow you home, sit at your table, sleep in your bed. I also believe that stories seek us out so that right story comes to us just when we need it.
Letters also tell stories. But what if the letters got lost? What happens to the stories they contain? Is there a home for lost letters and their stories? Indeed there is! Japan’s Missing Post Office.
Until the 1990s, Awashima Island in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea had a flourishing port where sailors stopped to send and receive letters and telegrams. When the port closed the letters kept on coming to the now dead post office. In 2013 the artist Kubota Saya transformed the dead post office into Japan’s Missing Post Office, a place where locals and visitors can come, read letters, and send letters to those departed souls who are beyond receiving the letter but not the thought.
Japan’s Missing Post Office receives 10 to 20 letters without addressees daily from those seeking closure, comfort, or simply a means to express emotions that have no other outlet. The stories in the letters are there to be read, cherished, and shared. There might be one waiting for you.
Meanwhile, even if you are not able to visit the Missing Post Office yourself, you can send a letter to join the others. The address and links to articles about Japan’s Missing Post Office are in the Episode Notes.
Story Prompt: To whom would you like to express yourself in a letter and what would you say? Write that story and tell it out loud!
How to submit a letter to the Missing Post Office and Address:
1317-2 Awashima
Takuma-cho
Mitoyo, Kagawa
The Missing Post Office: Letters Without Addressees
Japan’s Missing Post Office: Where Lost Letters Find a Home
You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Services, arrange a no-sales Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.
ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved. If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.
Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team
Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts
Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music