In Japan I got used to seeing the symbol “〒” around places and it took me embarrassingly long to realise it signifies “post”. Post boxes, post offices, or anything post related.
I guess I just thought it was a cool symbol, rather than actually having a meaning!
It would typically be interpreted as “yūbin”.
郵便
“yūbin”
postal
Something I learned recently is that the symbol 〒 is intended as a stylised テ.
テ
“te”
katakana for the sound “te“
Why would “te” symbolise post?
逓信
“teishin”
communications
So it’s an abbreviation. Interesting.
Before 1998 the official mascot of Japan Post was a face called “Number-kun”. That translates more or less as “Number Lad”, or perhaps “Number Chap”.
Here he is!
〠
This entry about post in Japan is a clue as to what I will talk about tomorrow!
Where did you learn that 〒 was a stylized テ?
The below says there are several interpretations, but I am not sure if they match exactly with that statement.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/郵便記号
なお、「T」マークの由来にも諸説あり、漢字の「丁」（てい）を図案化したもので、これは「甲乙丙丁」の「丁」が逓信（ていしん）の「てい」の読みに合うからだという説や、「逓信」をローマ字で表した「Teishin」の頭文字だという説もある。
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I got it from the ‘Postal Symbol’ subsection of the English wikipedia “Japan Post entry”. (Screenshot in case that entry is edited.)
The reference given for that sentence leads to a 404 error so it could well be a classic case of wikipedia not being accurate (as I am afraid it sometimes is 😥).
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Thanks for the clarification. Generally I find Japanese-language sources (wikipedia) are more accurate than English-language ones. I guess something gets lost in translation (:
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