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A postal service on the European system was first inaugurated in March, 1871, by the establishment of a letter post between Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Yokohama.

A fairly regular service for the carrying of official correspondence had been in existence a long time previously. Private correspondence, however, had been carried by town carriers, and this service had developed more and more since the sixteenth century (period of Kambun).

In 1871 the first issue of postage stamps appeared, and postal regulations were established. The carrying out of these regulations, and the sale of postage stamps, were placed under the direction of the Governors of Departments. As the working of this system became well regulated, postal routes were extended to Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata, Hakodate, etc. The official journal, newspapers, books, and samples of merchandise were considered as articles of letter post.

By 1872 the postal routes extended to nearly all the towns of the Empire. The postal charges were not yet uniform, but regulated by the distance traversed. Moreover, there was a difference of charge on postal matter circulated in the same city, postal matter delivered outside of this radius, and that sent out by local authorities and distributed within the limits of an Administrative District.

In 1873, to overcome the inconveniences of unequal charges then in force, a reformed tariff was adopted, which was not based on the distance traversed, except in the case of postal matter submitted to special charges. This same year the transportation of letters by private enterprise was abolished, and it became the exclusive monopoly of the State. Post-