ORIGIN OF THE WORD HAGAKI

The word “hagaki” is the Japanese word for “postcard” and it originated from this rare tree called “tarayou”, named after a kind of palm trees “taraju”, the leaves of which were used for writing sutras in ancient India.

Being able to write characters on the back of its leaves led the then Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to designate the tree as “the tree of the post office” in 1997.

Would you try to write messages on its back, put a stamp on it and send it to your friend, and check whether it actually reaches them?

葉書の起源

「葉書（はがき）」という言葉のもとになった杉並区指定の珍木。インドで葉の裏にお経を書いた「多羅樹」にちなんで名付けられた。

葉の裏を傷つけると字が書けることから、「郵便局の木」と定められている。多羅葉は現在の変形葉書として十分使用に耐えるといわれるので、実際にメッセージを書いて、切手を貼って友人に出し、本当に先方に着くか試してみてはいかが。