Hikyaku
Hikyaku (飛脚) were couriers in Japan who carried letters, documents, bills of exchange, and packages, using a system of relay stations under the bakufu military governments, beginning in the Kamakura period (1185–1333), gradually yielding to more modern systems beginning in 1858. == Kamakura period == During the Asuka period the government established a system called Five Home Provinces and Seven Circuits, served by messengers known as ekishi (駅使) who carried special post station bells (駅鈴, ekirei).