Today is kokuu (穀雨), one of nijyushisekki (二十四節気), the 24 solar terms. The last one was seimei (清明) on April 5 and the next one is rikka (立夏) on May 5.
Koku u (穀 雨) literally means grain, corn, cereal, and rain. That is the rain to help grain growing. Actually it rained in the afternoon today.
Today is also the anniversary of the postal service. It was established in 1934 to commemorate the new postal system practiced on March 1, 1871 in place of express messenger called hikyaku (飛脚) system. A week including this day is called kitte shumi shukan (切手趣味週間), Stamp Hobby Week.
I happened to visit the post office today and found a very beautiful sheet of the stamps for the Stamp Hobby Week of this year. And I bought a sheet for yen 800. There are 10 pcs of 4 different yen 80 stamps. Since this year is the year of Tiger, the picture of the tiger is included.
http://www.post.japanpost.jp/kitte_hagaki/stamp/tokusyu/2010/h220420_t.html
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