History

Kisha: The Iron Horse

Our first tegami began with the hikyaku. Men who had carried letters across Japan for over 250 years, handing off a small wooden box from one man to another. Rain, snow, mountains, night. In 1872 came the train. A steam locomotive. …

Ukiyo-e of Japan's first steam locomotive running at night along the coast near Takanawa, with moonlit sea and telegraph poles

A letter from Japan, worth slowing down for.

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