The postal services together represent a ∖18.7 trillion ordinary income and employ some 300,000 people in Japan. The postal office network extends to 24.000 locations. The postal savings system, with more than ∖170 trillion in assets, is the world's largest financial institutions. The services are closely linked to the everyday lives people around the country. Privatization is the way to free this mammoth organization from the construction of a government operated public enterprise. The issues are how to avoid emergence of gaps in the nationwide service network and how to keep the privatized organizations from overwhelming their existing rivals in the private sector.
