It's a wonder more letter writers don't go postal

Everyone in Japan is worried about unemployment but islands like mine are suffering from overemployment.

Question: How many Japanese people does it take to send a letter at the post office? Answer: Four. One to measure and weigh the envelope, one to supervise the weighing and measuring, one to confirm that the letter has been measured and weighed and one to carry the letter 100 meters from the post office to the ferry boat. And my post office doesn't even watermark the envelopes -- that's done on the mainland.

When I heard that the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry was planning to cut 3,240 employees to reduce the 62.5 billion yen postal deficit, I was hoping they'd do away with our post office completely. No such luck.