Mr. Matsumoto had an idea.

松本先生想到一個點子

That idea would put his small town of Susami on the map.

這個點子會讓他所在的小鎮 -- 周參見町變成觀光景點

(orchestral violin music)

(管絃樂團的小提琴旋律)

(bouncy piano music)

(輕快的鋼琴旋律)

This is Mr. Matsumoto.

這位是森本先生

He ran the post office in Susami.

他在周參見町的郵局工作

I worked at the post office for about 40 years.

我在郵局服務了大概四十年

I came up with this idea to make an underwater mailbox.

我想到了設立一個海底郵筒的點子

I thought if would be interesting if divers could send letters from under the sea.

我覺得如果潛水者能從海底寄信的話應該很有趣

當時我認為這對郵局跟促進觀光來說都是好事

- [Narrator] In a classic, if you build it,

像電影裡的經典故事「如果你蓋了，他們就會來」一樣，

they will come story, they built it and people came.

他們蓋了郵筒接著人潮就來了 (典故出自1989年上映的美國電影-夢幻成真)

Almost 38,000 postcards have been mailed from the underwater mailbox so far.

目前從這個海底郵筒寄出的明信片大約有三萬八千張

- [Narrator] This is Mr. Nakanishi.

這位是中西先生

He runs a dive shop here in Susami

他在周參見島經營潛水店

and he manages the postbox.

他也負責管理郵筒

The underwater mailbox is at a depth of about 10 metres (32 feet).

這個海底郵筒位在大概十公尺深的海面下

It's in the Guinness Book of World Records because it is the deepest mailbox in the world.

它被列入金氏世界紀錄，因為它是世界上最深的水下郵筒

- [Narrator] Since the box is underwater,

因為郵筒在海裡，

you can't just mail a typical postcard.

你不可能寄傳統的明信片

So it goes like this, you come into Mr. Nakanishi's

所以過程會這樣進行，你到中西先生的

dive shop, buy a postcard, write your note.

潛水店、買一張明信片、寫下你的話

People use water-resistant postcards.

人們使用防水的明信片

They write on the postcards with oil-based markers.

他們用防水油性筆寫下想說的話

- [Narrator] Gear up, dive down, slip the note

穿好裝備、潛入海底、把明信片投進

into the red mailbox sitting on the ocean floor,

坐落在海底的紅色郵筒，

and according to Mr. Nakanishi, it will actually get

而據中西先生表示，明信片將確實

to its destination.

寄達目的地

I dive down to the underwater mailbox everyday to collect the postcards.

我每天潛水到海底郵筒去收明信片

After I collect them, I deliver them to the local post office.

收件完後，我把這些明信片拿到當地的郵局去寄

I think the underwater mailbox has been a real asset for tourism in Susami.

我認為海底郵筒的確是周參見町的一項觀光資產

People come here from far away to mail postcards from it.

人們遠道而來這兒寄明信片

- [Narrator] Ultimately, Mr. Matsumoto's idea worked.

最後，松本先生的點子成功了

The mailbox made Susami a destination for divers.

這個郵筒讓周參見町變成潛水愛好者的目的地

It made the town special.

它讓這個小鎮變得特別

I cam up with the idea to make Susami more appealing.

我的初衷是想讓周參見町變得更吸引人

There's no other place where you can do this, this makes it special.

正因為在其他地方都沒有這樣的體驗，才讓它更特別

(bell chiming)

(鈴響聲)