The prime minister’s New Year’s address in 2001 started with an unexpected break from tradition.

“This is the dawn of the 21st century,” declared then-Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who then held up an envelope for everyone to see.

The address on it, written with a brush, read, “To the Prime Minister of Japan.”

The sender was Yasuhiro Nakasone (1918-2019).

Sixteen years previously, Nakasone was the prime minister when the International Science Technology Exposition (Expo ’85) was held in Tsukuba Science City in 1985.

The envelope with Nakasone’s message inside was mailed to a “postal time capsule” kept by........

© The Asahi Shimbun