Honoring Olympic Champion, Japan To Post Golden Mailbox

Tokyo 2020 Olympics illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Tokyo-Good)

JAKARTA - Japan will replace red mailboxes with gold boxes in places associated with the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions to honor their achievements, according to the government and Japan Post Co.

Under this policy, whenever a Japanese athlete wins a gold medal at the Olympics or Paralympics, the mailbox will be replaced with a gold mailbox in a location associated with them, such as their hometown or training base, Cabinet Secretariat and postal service units.

"I hope we can install as many (gold mailboxes) as possible across Japan," Japan Post President and CEO Kazuhide Kinugawa said at a press conference Monday, June 28, citing Kyodo News.

Later, the golden mailbox will display the name of the medal winner, sport and hometown in Japanese, English and Braille. For team sports, the coach's name will also be displayed, according to the Japan Post.

Gold mailbox in Leeds, England. (Wikimedia Commons/Rich Tea)

As a form of state appreciation for athletes' achievements, mailboxes will be arranged with the medal winner's approval and remain in place after the match.

What Japan intends to do in the future for the gold medalists at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, has already been done by Britain for the gold medalists at this quadrennial multi-sports event.

British postal service operator Royal Mail Group repainted about 110 gold mailboxes across the country in honor of the champions at the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics.

This move is able to attract sports fans and tourists, become the pride of local residents, where their region has athletes who won Olympic gold medals.