Pikachu, Eevee, and Piplup get new leases on life in Yokohama, and it’s thanks to fans.

After many days of gloomy conditions, the city of Yokohama finally got a break from the dark, rainy weather on Tuesday. The sunny skies came just in the nick of time, too, as June 30 was scheduled to be the final chance to see Yokohama’s awesome Pokémon mailboxes before their permanent removal, and it would have been a shame if fans’ last photos of the postal Pikachu, Eevee, and Piplup had to be taken in a downpour.

But instead of a bittersweet goodbye, those rays of sunshine ended up being a metaphor for something much more cheerful, with the sudden announcement that the Pokémon mailboxes won’t be going away with the end of June after all!

To recap, Yokohama, which is half an hour south of Tokyo by train, has three Pokémon mailboxes. Two of those are located outside the city hall building and attached to Bashamichi Station, with one box topped by a Pikachu couple and the other an Eevee.

The third Pokémon mailbox is a block away, in front of the Yokohama Sakuragi Post Office, where Piplup is standing by (sitting by, actually), to receive letters and postcards.

All three of them were first installed in July of 2021, and originally were only supposed to be in service until the end of June 2022. Because of how popular they were with visitors, though, Japan Post (Japan’s postal service) and the Pokémon Company decided to extend the Pokémon mailboxes’ service until June 30, 2026. Then, on the day that was supposed to be their last, came the news of yet another extension, and now all three boxes are scheduled to be in place until the end of June 2027.

Once again, the reason for the extension is the immensely positive reaction from the public. All of the mailboxes saw especially large numbers of visitors in June, with a spokesperson for the Yokohama Sakuragi Post Office expressing surprise at the turnout even though there had been no official reminder announcements or official farewell events being promoted. After seeing that the mailboxes are beloved as ever, Japan Post entered into talks with the Pokémon Company about once again renewing the arrangement, with the discussions wrapping up an agreement only being made right before the mailboxes were slated to go out of service.

▼ So if you were one of the fans who went to go see them, give yourself a pat on the back because you helped save these Pikachus!

Japan Post hasn’t said what aspects of the arrangement required extended conversations, but the Pokémon Company is famously committed to having its partnerships reflect well on the franchise’s image. With Yokohama’s Pokémon mailboxes being outside and exposed to the elements, the Pokémon Company likely has stipulations about keeping them suitably clean and maintained so that visitors aren’t met with the sight of a faded, cracked, or dirty Pikachu, Eevee, or Piplup. With the problems that have been occurring with the statues at the recently opened Pokémon-themed hot spring in Ishikawa Prefecture, the Pokémon Company is probably being extra cautious about infrastructure collaborations at the moment, but it’s great news for fans that an agreement was hammered out and the Yokohama mailboxes will be around for another year at least.

Source: Japan Post, Mainichi Shimbun
Photos ©SoraNews24
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