Japan Discusses Cutting Back Postal Services
Listen to the story
Japan has a problem with its postal service. Fewer people send letters and mail now. Japan Post is losing money because of this.
The government wants to help. A ministry called the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications made a special group. This group has experts. They will talk about the future of mail service.
The experts will check if Japan Post can keep working the same way. This is called sustainability. They will also talk about making the service smaller.
Japan Post is trying new business ideas. It wants to cover its money losses. But it is not easy. People are asking big questions about post offices now.
The company may also raise prices for mail. Some people think the government should give money to help Japan Post. This is called public support.
The experts will study all these ideas. They want to find a good plan for the future of mail in Japan.
Vocabulary15 words
- postal service
- the system that sends letters and packages
- Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
- a part of the Japanese government
- sustainability
- being able to continue for a long time
- post offices
- places where you send and get mail
- public support
- money help from the government
- expert
- a person who knows a lot about something
- reduce
- to make smaller
- letters and packages sent to people
- raise prices
- to make things cost more money
- business idea
- a new plan to make money
- panel
- a group of people who discuss something
- loss
- when a company makes less money than it spends
- government
- the people who run a country
- company
- a business that sells things or services
- plan
- an idea about what to do
Quiz
Answer key
1. Fewer people send mail 2. — 3. Raise prices