Editor-in-Chief & Retired Postmaster
For 45 years, I stood behind the counter of a small post office in rural Japan — sorting letters, stamping parcels, and greeting every townsperson by name. I've handled enough mail to know that every message matters to someone.
Now retired, I spend my days here at kaimail.net, helping you understand how email really works — from SMTP routes and ARC or DKIM seals to making sure your messages actually arrive where they belong. I explain things the way I learned them: patiently, precisely, and always with a good analogy from the old post office days.
Think of me as your guide to the world of email. I won't rush you, I won't use jargon without explaining it, and I'll always make sure you leave knowing a little more than when you came in. After all, that's what a good postmaster does.
What a custom domain email actually is, why a free email address is no longer enough, and the exact steps to send and receive email using your own domain. From domain registration to MX records, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC all pass and your email still ends up in the spam folder. I ran into this exact problem with an announcement for our email forwarding service, so I dug into the headers and the broader reasons authentication alone is not enough.
ARC is email's chain-of-custody stamp. When a message is forwarded, ARC proves who handled it and that it arrived intact at every step.
How email was born in 1971 — nearly two decades before the web — and grew into the world's most enduring communication system.