Japan Post Senator Indou calls for shift in Japan Post's focus to community services using AI technology while diversifying revenue sources

Senator Indou Shusaku (LDP) testified before the House of Councillors Budget Committee on May 13, stating that Japan Post should shift emphasis toward 'services that contribute to improving convenience for local residents using post offices,' as defined in the Japan Post Company Law, while Japan Post Group should invest aggressively in productivity improvements through advanced AI technology such as Physical AI and Agentic AI.

Japan Post faces declining mail volume—from 26.2 billion items in fiscal year 2001 to 12.6 billion items in fiscal year 2024 (approximately halved)—and New Year's cards dropped from 4.45 billion at peak (2004) to 750 million this year. Against this backdrop, Indou argued that the company should maintain universal postal services while prioritizing services supporting local communities in an era of population decline and super-aging.

The LDP is advancing amendments to the Postal Privatization Law to designate 'public services and other services forming the foundation of daily and social life for local residents' as new core business functions for post offices, alongside implementation of AI, robotic arms, and generative AI for parcel sorting, delivery route optimization, and task automation to achieve productivity gains and cost reduction.