Amazing facts about Antique Stamps of Japan

The early twentieth century, especially the period post the First World War but before the Second World war is an interesting period for stamp collectors. Japan, along with many other countries of the world was gearing up for the industrial age of air-travel, heavy machinery, railways and so on. Japan itself was undergoing a rapid pace of development, a prelude to its entry into the Second World War. However, the period from 1915 to 1925 would have been more peaceful as is reflected in the themes of the stamps of that period. The Mount Fuji Deer stamps are an example of how people felt about their ecosystem and wildlife.

Unfortunately, I don't know Japanese and whatever I know about the stamps comes from my research on the subject along with help from people who have read my blogposts on stamps. It is interesting however to note how stamps help one transcend the boundaries of language. On doing some research on some of the stamps that I have in my collection, I was surprised to know that a few stamps that I thought belonged to the early 1920s were in fact issued in the years 1899 to 1907! I have posted a few below:

The vintage one and a half to twenty sen stamps were printed from 1899 to 1907

1915 till the late 1930s

One fine example of an early Japanese stamp is posted below. Notice the English label, Imperial Japanese Post. The stamp was issued during the period 1883-1887.

To celebrate the enthronement of Emperor Yoshihito, four bicolour stamps were issued in the year 1915. Posted below is a 1915 Scott 151 10s ultramarine stamp: 

Early Japanese stamps did not have a picture of their Emperor, nor did they have pictures of important personalities. Things changed after the early nineteen hundred when stamps started to have pictures of important personalities like Fleet Admiral Marquis Togo Heihachiro. Some of the stamps were issued after Japan conquered other countries during the Second World War.

1925-1926 miscellaneous stamps

1922 to 1929-The Mount Fuji Deer Stamps

The Mt. Fuji Stamps are thematic stamps that depict nature in the form of deer and the National treasure of the country none other than the mystical Mt. Fuji.

Fleet Admiral Marquis Togo Heihachiro

The Second World War saw Japan conquering parts of China and during this period there were a large number of examples of Chines Stamps being overprinted by the Japanese. Some of these examples are of the Sun Yat-sen stamps on to which the values were overprinted in the Japanese language. A few examples have been posted below:

Notable during the Second World War are many more examples of Chinese stamps that were overprinted by the Japanese. A couple of examples of Chinese stamps that were overprinted include the ones below.