Tag: Japan stamp

The world was becoming a smaller place in the 19th century. European impressionist painters like Van Gogh and Degas had been greatly influenced by Japanese Ukiyo-e style of woodblock print art that was fading fast in Japan. However when a new generation of Japanese artists like Goyo Hashiguci saw what the Europeans were up to, The Shin-hanga style rejuvenated the old style now with more emphasis on light, as with the impressionists. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The Ukiyo-e style means pictures in a floating world. The revival to succeed had to be commercially viable. So the Shin-Hanga revival included a lot more geishas and even nudes. The Goyo print on this stamp is called “Woman Combing Hair”.The upside of the printing technique is that the numerous prints have more of the hand of the artisans involved. A reprint of this work done in the old way but printed from a modern woodblock is worth $500.

Todays stamp is issue A1300, a 60 yen stamp issued by Japan on April 14th 1987. This stamp and one other with a different Goyo work were issued as part of a philately week. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.

Ukiyo-e was most common in Japan in the 18th and 19th centuries. The most common subject was nature scenes. The style is very labor intensive, not just for the designing artist. The work then goes to a wood carvers who carves the woodblock that will transfer the image. The printer is then responsible for the coloring and the handmade paper on to which the image goes onto. Last but definitely not least is the job of the publisher, whose job it is to promote and distribute the work. Around 1870, Ukiyo-e prints became available in Paris. There they had much influence on the artists who were part of the impressionist movement. This influence is referred to as Japonism.

Goyo initially tried his hand at the traditional style of Ukiyo-e at a Japanese art show in 1911. It was not a success. Goyo, not his real name, was then approached by a publisher to do a work more influenced by the use of light by western impressionist. This was the Shin-Hanga movement. It was also more influenced by demand in the world market. The subject was nude and the title was “Bathing”. This work was a big success and the publisher wanted to continue the collaboration. Instead Goyo supervised the artisans involved in later works personally.

Unfortunately Goyo was a sickly man suffering from beriberi and meningitis. When he died in 1921, he had only completed 14 designs. His brother and then nephew stepped in with 7 new designs allegedly taken from Goyo sketches. No doubt helping the value of the original prints, the original woodblocks for making the prints were lost in a Tokyo earthquake in 1923.

The Shin-Hanga movement faded after the war. Modern practitioners tend to do for themselves the woodblock carving and printing. When it is done all by one person, it is called Sosaku-hanga.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Goyo’s publisher of “Bathing”. a Mr. Watanabe. To bad for being shut out of the later success after suggesting the right track for “Goyo”. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

Japan in the twentieth century got to work in advancing human knowledge. By 1966 they could display a machine that uses an isotope of cobalt to shoot gamma rays into the brain to destroy cancerous brain tumors. Better than Buck Rodgers, his ray guns were only for fun. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

When I spotted this stamp in an old stock book of mine, I thought this stamp would tell a different story about Japan. I assumed it was industrial equipment and the story would be about Japan exporting it’s way to prosperity by low wages, dumping product, undervalued yen and taking advantage of cold war “allies”. The fact that this stamp is semi postal should have clued me in to a more interesting story. Of a nation making a national priority of fighting a disease that was killing many and not just Japanese. The surcharge was to allow the Japanese postal patron be a part of it.

Todays stamp is issue SP9, a 7 +3 Yen semi postal stamp issued by Japan on October 21st, 1966. It was a two stamp issue displaying Japanese developed treatments for cancer in honor of an international convention in Tokyo that year. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether mint or used. You would think Japanese collectors would have bid up the value of a stamp showing a gamma ray machine by the time it was 53 years old.

Japan first organized cancer medical research all the way back in 1908. They have never stopped the research  and there are over 15,000 people employed in the field. Advancements made are not kept just for Japan as there is collaboration on a large scale internationally including annual conventions in Hawaii to share information with American researchers.

The machine displayed on the stamp is called a gamma knife. The patient suffering from brain tumors puts on a helmet with many tiny holes that can shoot gamma rays as directly as possible at the tumors. The more precise the direction limits the damage done to nearby non cancerous cells. The gamma rays are derived from an isotope of cobalt 60, a naturally occurring metal. Very advanced for 1966. There is now a newer machine called a linear accelerator that can deliver larger doses of the cobalt isotope for use against bigger tumors.

Unlike years ago, Japan has a lower rate of cancer than the USA. There used to be a very high incidence of stomach cancer in Japan that related to the Japanese diet, but after the connection the diet was changed relating to the shellfish behind it. One cancer that has gotten worse in Japan recently is breast cancer. It is thought that Japanese women waiting longer to have children is behind the rise. Japan is a nation with a long life expectancy, and since cancer usually hits later in life it would be expected to have higher numbers of victims. The fact that it does not and the mortality rate for cancer in Japan if relatively low shows the benefit of the research focus over the long term.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the gamma ray and the machines that fire them. Who knew it could be more than just for fun. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

Japan was achieving much in the early 20th century. There was rapid industrialization and leaps in educational achievement. In world affairs, Japan was seen as a major player, the only Asian country to be so seen. The achievements were not enough for the army that wanted to set up a wider Asian Empire, even over the objection of Emperor Hirohito and  the last civilian controller, Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp is an early version of a stamp that would be very common post war. A calming scene of natural beauty. It must be remembered that even so long ago Japan was a very crowded place with many new arrivals in the cities from the countryside. Parks were a big part of getting through such a transition. It was a great marker of an advanced civilization that effort was expended to see that parks are set aside and protected.

Todays stamp is issue A101, a two Sen stamp issued by Imperial Japan on December 25, 1938. It was part of a four stamp issue in various denominations that showed the sights of the then new Nikko national park. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 50 cents used.

Emperor Hirohito began his long reign in 1926. There was a crisis of politics early in his reign as the civilian politicians were having a hard time reigning in the ambitions of the leaders of the military. The Emperor was more than ceremonial but the Prime Minister and the Diet had real power. Not for long though. An example of how out of control the Army was can be seen by what happened in Manchuria. Hirohito had ordered that there be no attack on China as was required by international treaties that Japan was a signatory to. Without orders to do so, the Army bombed a Japanese owned railway. They then blamed the Chinese and used the pretext to invade Manchuria, conquer it and set up a puppet government. Remember all without orders.

The Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi then withheld even Japanese recognition of the new puppet government in Manchuria. This did not sit well with the armed forces and group of young soldiers went to the official residence of the Prime Minister and assassinated him by firing squad. At the same time other politicians were attacked as were some prominent business leaders and there was also an explosion inside Mitsubishi Bank. The Emperor declared this a rebellion and ordered the perpetrators arrested. This was ignored and only some teenage soldiers were arrested and received only token sentences. From then on there was no civilian oversight of the military and Hirohito was no longer opposing the wishes of the Army. From then on when told of war plans he would only try to caution the armed forces by asking what Russia or the USA would do if the plan was carried out. The answer of course was start a long bloody and loosing war for Japan.

The Nikko park opened as a national park in 1934. Earlier it had been an Imperial park but the Diet had passed a law making such places national parks and open without charge. The Park was expanded several times post war and is a major tourist attraction.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Prime Minister Tsuyoshi. His last words to his firing squad were reportedly that if you would listen you would understand me to which they responded, the time for dialog is over. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

Remembering the founder of the post office on a stamp seems pretty obvious. The decision to learn western ways was not an easy decision in Japan and the decision was hardly unanimous. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The look of this stamp is quite western. Yes of course it contains Japanese style writing. In fact of two different styles. The first Japanese stamp from 1871 shows the early Chinese style lettering called Kanji and the later simplified Shinjitai style on the rest of the stamp. Nevertheless the style is quite western for a Japanese stamp issue. This was appropriate to honor the founder of the post office. He was an important voice of his day suggesting that the best way to preserve Japan was to adopt western ways and technology but within the Japanese system as a way to avoid foreign domination.

Todays stamp is issue A1860, a 80 Yen stamp issued by Japan on August 10th, 1994. It showed the father of the Japanese post office, Baron Maejima Hisoka and the first Japanese postage stamp of 1871. The stamp was part of a series that year that honored Japanese postal history. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 40 cents used. In case you were wondering the first stamp from Japan displayed on this stamp is now worth $250 in the form shown on this stamp.

Maejima was born in 1835 when Japan was still ruled by the Shoguns that did their best to keep Japan closed off to the West. Westerners were considered barbarians and Japan eyed nervously what had happened in China giving in ever more to Western domination. There were however frequent intrusions of Western naval ships into Japanese waters. They possessed cannons that the Japanese had no defense against and no ability to build themselves. Treaties were pressed on Japan forcing open trading posts and allowing the presence of westerners.

The Shoguns were discredited by this and voices like Maejima arose suggesting the learning of Western ways in order that there be some defense against western encroachment. Maejima even proposed to the last Shogun ruler Kanji writing be removed from the Japanese writing system. That did not happen but the Meiji restoration occurred in 1868, Maejima was quickly hired and put in charge of arraigning for a postal service. He went to Great Britain to study their postal service and the first postal service linking Tokyo and Osaka was in operation within a year. When Maejima left the postal system 11 years later there were over 5000 post offices throughout Japan and the country was a member of the Universal postal union. The system was made self sufficient by offering banking services through the post office including savings accounts and money orders. This was the first option for this available in the countryside.

Maejima did much more beyond the postal service in later life. He cofounded a University and a newspaper and a political party. He invested in several of the early railroad concerns. He was even made a Baron under the then in place peerage system and served in the House of Peers in the 1910s. This was the upper house of the Japanese Diet. He died in 1919.

Well my drink is empty and so I will pour another to toast Japan’s entry into stamp issuing. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

Imagine trying to collect Asian stamps as a western collector in the 19th century. There is a taste of that in this 21st century stamp from Japan. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The colors on this stamp are incredibly well executed. That is not to say they are very realistic. Instead the colors have been picked to be so subdued as to add a feeling of calm and contentment. More so than the more vivid colors of reality. This is a common theme in Japanese stamps from the early days. In the more modern offerings there is more of a reflective mood. The stamp offerings are often large sheets of different stamps dedicated to home towns or songs. Not the big cities where people still live and not songs that sit atop the pop chart. Rather an idealized reflection on a Japan that once was.

Japan is no longer a hard charging goal oriented country of the twentieth century. Rather it is an older place,still mostly inward looking, and very well off. This is reflected in the stamp offerings, that are clearly directed almost entirely to local collectors.

So where does that leave the western stamp collector. Well, if ones favorite part of collecting is art on stamps. Japan will have plenty of stamps for you. They are reasonably priced with comparatively few of them exceeding a dollar in value.

To a more general collector there are some basic issues that just do not come up as often with other countries offerings. The Japanese script, with no date of issue leave basic identification very difficult. To add to this, from the early 1990s on to present day there has been the problem of inflation. or rather the lack of it as Japan as been fighting a never ending battle with deflation since the Japanese stock market bubble burst in 1989. This takes away a method of time dating a stamp that works with most every country including pre 1989 Japan. Over time the denominations on stamps go up. So the newer the higher the denomination. Occasionally there is a big devaluation or a new currency to shake things up but those can be learned easily. On todays Japan stamp, the denomination is 80 yen. The has been the defacto postal rate for nearly 30 years. There were even a few earlier than that stamps with that denomination. That means that the denomination can only narrow the stamp down to a 30 year window. Not much help.

At the same time the postal issues have shifted at a few on going themes of a better yesterday that have new annual releases. An example of this is the hometown series that are now in the hundreds of individual stamps issued over many years. All with 80 yen denominations and descriptions only in Japanese characters.

Another factor making it difficult is the tendency not to show landmarks from the town but rather an idealized nature scene as with todays stamp. Very pretty and might mean something to one from that hometown, but not  much for anyone else.

Well my drink is empty so I will open the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have a lovely stamp to look at and talk about.

The look of todays stamp is exceptional. This is the case with so many stamps from Japan. Japanese stamps can be spotted by the word Nippon spelled out in western script on most of them. It is still possible to pick out Japanese stamps from other Asian countries by looking at the Asian characters. No I don’t expect you to learn how to read them. If you look at the characters, a stamp from Japan will always start with a simple rectangle with a straight lime through the center. You can see it in bold script in the bottom right corner of todays stamp.

When I first started collecting stamps 39 years ago, Japan stamp issues were about 80% of the Far Eastern Asian stamps in my collection. Today mainland China and South Korean stamps are much more common in the collections of newer collectors. Thankfully both Korea and China are nice enough to include their country name in western script. It is fun to think of the collectors from long ago who had to develop specialized knowledge to decipher their stamps. That was okay though, as stamp collecting was the hobby of kings.

Todays stamp is issue A1614, a 62 yen stamp issued by Japan in 1991. It is part of a 12 stamp issue that came out over a two year period displaying water-birds. This particular stamp displays the Streaked Shearwater. It is worth 35 cents cancelled.

The streaked shearwater bird measures 19 inches long and has a wingspan of 48 inches. It is known to fly behind fishing boats and feast on what the nets bring up. It is only native to the Pacific Ocean and is most common nesting on Japanese offshore islands.

It is estimated that there are 3 million streaked shearwaters in the world. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the bird is not endangered now or in the past. There is some fear of encroachment in their nesting areas, but so far so good.

Japanese stamps have always shown such artistry that they are a pleasure to take in. Politics are usually ignored on the stamps. Japan is a very homogenous country so the stamps can go all out on the shared history and culture. This is harder and harder to do in the west as the people do not have a common background. George Washington will mean a lot to an American who can trace his American ancestors back to independence. Only a tiny percentage of Americans can do that. Japan to date does not have such issues and is free to fully celebrate the history on it’s postal issues. I wonder if that means Japanese history buffs are more likely to collect stamps?

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.