Station #7: In the 1600s, the government ran an "express mail service" that was only available to high-ranking government officials and took three days and ten hours (82) hours from Edo to Kyoto, a distance of approximately 330 miles. Official couriers ran day and night with special escorts. Merchants created their own very successful courier service and by 1670, the government contracted with the merchants to deliver all their mail (early outsourcing). The man running in the print is one of their professional couriers who worked in relays. There were three levels of service - from five days to thirty days, of course depending on how much the sender was willing to pay. Who said Fed Ex was a new idea?

Image Copyright: Minneapolis Institute of Art