1899, Chrysanthemum Series JAPAN 10 Sen

1899, Chrysanthemum Series  JAPAN 10  Sen

Text: Japan 10 sen
Condition: Ø =USED/ Cancelled

Title:   Chrysanthemum crest

Face value:     10

Stamp Currency:       Sen

Country/area:                     Japan

Year:   1899

Set:     1899

Stamp number in set:           1

Basic colour:           Blue

Exact colour:          

Usage:                           Definitives

Type:               Stamp

Theme:           Japanse Chrysant

Stamp subject:           Japanse Chrysant

Michel number:         82

Yvert number:                        102

Scott number:                        103  

Stanley Gibbons number:   

Printing office:            

Perforation:    11½ : 12½

Watermark:    

Paper:            

Printing:             Typography

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Start of "Imperial Japanese Post"

1876   Japan's name appears on stamps for the first time as 大日本帝國郵便 (Dai Nippon Teikoku Yūbin), which continued to appear on all Japanese stamps until replaced by 日本郵便 in 1946 (see below). Denominations were shown in Chinese graphs as before.

Most denominations also showed IMPERIAL JAPANESE POST in roman script. The 5, 6, 8, 10, and 12 sen denoninations exceptionally had JAPANESE EMPIRE plus POST.

Denominations were romanized as Rn (Rin) and Sn (Sen) for lower denominations. The 5 sen denomination had Roman number V and roman SEN, and denominations from 6 sen and higher had Arabic numbers and roman SEN. The 5, 6, 8, 10, and 12 sen issues exceptionally also spelled out numbers in roman script -- FIVE SEN to TWELVE SEN.

The series issued from 1876 are the called "Koban stamps" (小判切手). The series was somewhat modified in 1883, and a 1 yen stamp (Yn) was added in 1888. The 1876 series and the 1883 series are now called "Old Koban" (旧小判) and "New Koban" (新小判) series. These stamps continued to be issued through 1898 but remained usable.

The Koban stamps were designed by the Italian engraver Edoardo Chiossone (1833-1898), who had been invited to Japan by the Paper Money Office (紙幣寮) of the Ministry of Finance. The stamps were printed on new style letter presses. The Paper Money Office later became the Printing Bureau (印刷局), then the National Printing Bureau (国立印刷局). The bureau is now a so-called "Independent Administrative Institution" of the Japanese government.

Chiossone, in Frankfurt in 1874 when Germany printed Japan's first paper money, was invited to Japan from London, where he had gone the following year to study new printing technology. He spent the rest of his life in Japan and was instrumental the Printing Bureau's development of stamp and currenty engraving and production technologies.

1884   Japan's Printing Bureau designs and produces Korea's first stamps, and over the following twenty years Japan becomes increasing involved in Korea's postal affairs (see below).

1895   Taiwan is incorporated into Japan's sovereign dominion, and as part of Japan its post offices begin to use Japanese stamps.

1899   Saw the appearance of the first new design of definitive stamps over two decades -- with a large crysanthemum crest in the center. These stamps are known as the "Kiku [Chrysanthemum] series" (菊切手).

Another notable design change was the disappearance of "Imperial Japanese Post" in roman script. Roman script continues to be used for sen (or Sn) and yen denominations until 1926.

1951, Goddess Kannon JAPAN 10¥

1951, Goddess Kannon JAPAN 10¥

Text:  JAPAN 10¥

Condition: Ø = used/cancelled

Title:   Goddess Kannon

Face value:     10

Stamp Currency:       Yen

Country/area:                     Japan

Year:   1951

Set:     1951

Stamp number in set:           1

Basic colour:           Brown

Exact colour:           Brown red

Usage:                           Definitives

Type:               Stamp

Theme:           Gods

Stamp subject:           Gods

Michel number:         549

Yvert number:                        495

Scott number:                        

Stanley Gibbons number:    516

Printing office:            

Perforation:    13 x 13½

Watermark:    

Paper:            

Printing:             

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• ORIGIN = India. Kannon personifies compassion and is one of the most widely worshiped divinities in Asia and Japan in both ancient and modern times. Kannon's origins are unclear, but most scholars agree that Kannon worship began in India around the 1st or 2nd century AD and then spread to Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and most other Asian nations. Veneration of Kannon in Japan began in the late 6th century, soon after Buddhism reached Japan by way of Korea and China. In Japan, Kannon's paradise is known as Fudarakusen. It is commonly said to be located at the southern tip of India (which supports theories of Kannon's Indian origin). Many Kannon statues from Japan's Asuka Era (538 to 710) are still extant. Originally male in form, Kannon is now often portrayed as female in China, Japan, and other East Asian countries. Each of these nations dressed Kannon in different forms to suit their own temperaments and spiritual concepts.
•  
• TRANSLATION. Avalokitêśvara is a Sanskrit term, masculine in gender, that translates as Lord Who Regards All (avalokita = observe, iśvara = unimpeded). Īśvara, another name for Śiva, Mahêśvara, or Īśvaradeva(the king of the deva), is a likely component of the name Avalokitêśvara. The Sino-Japanese term Kannon 観音 (Chinese = Guānyīn) literally means watchful listening, and is often translated as "one who sees / hears all." This is indeed the task of the compassionate Kannon — to witness and listen to the prayers and cries of those in difficulty in the earthly realm, and to help them achieve salvation. Another Japanese name for Kannon is Kanzeon 観世音, the one who constantly surveys (kan 観) the world (ze 世) listening for the sounds (on 音) of suffering. It was later shortened to Kannon. 
•  
• SCRIPTURAL BASIS. Kannon is a Bodhisattva (Jp. = Bosatsu), one who achieves enlightenment but postpones Buddhahood until all can be saved. Kannon is mentioned in numerous Mahayana sutra (religious texts), especially the Lotus Sutra 法華経 (Hokekyō), which was translated into Chinese by Kumārajīva (Jp. = Kumarajū 鳩摩羅什, 350 - 410), who rendered Kannon's name as "One Who Observes the Sounds of the World." Kannon also appears in the Kegonkyō 華厳経 (Skt. = Avatamsaka Sutra) and Hannya Shingyō 般若心経 (Skt. = Prajnaparamita Sutra; Engish = Heart Sutra), as well as in scriptures of the pure land school like the Muryōju-kyō 無量寿経, and in tantric (esoteric) texts such as Jūichimen Kanzeon Shinju-kyō and Senju Sengen Darani-kyō.

1951, Japanese airmail stamp of pagoda and DC-4 25¥

1951, Japanese airmail stamp of pagoda and DC-4 25-¥

Text: Japan 25 

Condition: Ø =USED/ Cancelled

Title:   Plane

Face value:     25

Stamp Currency:       Yen

Country/area:                     Japan

Year:   1951

Set:     1951

Stamp number in set:           1

Basic colour:           Green

Exact colour:           Brown red

Usage:                           Airmail

Type:               Stamp

Theme:           Pagoda, Aircrafts

Stamp subject:           pagoda and DC-4

Michel number:         558

Yvert number:                       

Scott number:                        

Stanley Gibbons number:    627

Printing office:            

Perforation:    13 x 13½

Watermark:    

Paper:            

Printing:             

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1951, Kwannon du temple Chuguji Japan 50 Yen Brown

1951, Kwannon du temple Chuguji Japan 50 Yen Brown

Text: Japan 50 Yen
Condition: Ø =USED/ Cancelled

Title:   Nyoirin Kannon

Face value:     50

Stamp Currency:       Yen

Country/area:                     Japan

Year:   1951

Set:     1951

Stamp number in set:           1

Basic colour:           Brown

Exact colour:           Chocolate brown

Usage:                           Definitives

Type:               Stamp

Theme:          

Stamp subject:           Nyoirin Kannon

Michel number:         536

Yvert number:                        469

Scott number:                        

Stanley Gibbons number:   

Printing office:            

Perforation:    13 x 13½

Watermark:    

Paper:            

Printing:             Recess

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Chūgū-ji (中宮寺?) is a temple in Nara Prefecture, Japan, that was founded as a nunnery in the seventh century by Shōtoku Taishi. Located immediately to the northeast of Hōryū-ji, its statue of Miroku and Tenjukoku mandalaare National Treasures.

Chūgūji was once the palace of Hashihito, mother of Shōtoku Taishi. After her death it was converted into a temple. Originally standing three hundred metres to the east, it was moved to its present location in the Muromachi period.[1] Chūgū-ji is one of three nunneries in Yamato whose chief priestesses were imperial princesses.[2] The site of Chūgū-ji has been designated a Historic Site, and the Edo period Omotegomon has been registered as a cultural property.

The camphor wood statue of Miroku (菩薩半跏像?) is a National Treasure dating from the Asuka period. Formerly painted, it is finished in lacquer.

In 622, after the death of Shōtoku Taishi, his consort Tachibana-no-Oiratsume commissioned the Tenjukoku ShūchōMandala (天寿国繍帳?). The embroidery of heaven and eternal life, together with one hundred tortoises and accompanying text, was restored in the Edo period by combining the surviving fragments with parts of a Kamakura period replica.

1955, Oshidori Japanese Stamp 5 ¥

1955, Oshidori Japanese 5-¥

Text: i Japan 5 yen 
Condition: Ø =USED/ Cancelled

Title:   Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)

Face value:     5

Stamp Currency:       Yen

Country/area:                     Japan

Year:   1955

Set:     1955

Stamp number in set:           1

Basic colour:           Light blue

Exact colour:           Brown

Usage:                           Definitives

Type:               Stamp

Theme:           Animals (Fauna) | Birds | Ducks

Stamp subject:           Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)

Michel number:         643

Yvert number:                        566

Scott number:                        611

Stanley Gibbons number:    657

Printing office:            

Perforation:    Comb 13 x 13½

Watermark:    

Paper:            

Printing:             Photogravure

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OSHIDORI

The migratory Mandarin duck breeds in eastern Siberia, China, and Japan and winters in southern China and Japan. Once widespread in eastern Asia, it is now endangered due to the destruction of its forested habitat. Present population is estimated to be around 5000 pairs in Japan, though less than 1000 pairs remain in Russia and China.

The male is a colorful, striking bird in full plumage, the female is a paler version. Both have triangular feathers on their wings which the Japanese call icho-bane, or ginkgo feathers, because of their resemblance to the leaves of the ginkgo tree.

Mandarins prefer densely wooded areas near shallow bodies of water. They feed at dawn and dusk, their diet consisting of plants and seeds, including rice, which they gather both in the water and on land. They spend the daylight hours on the ground or perched in trees.

Mating takes place at the start of winter and is characterized by an animated courtship display involving mock drinking and shaking. Mandarins build their nests in a hole in a tree, which can be as high as thirty feet off the ground. While both birds search for right tree for their nest, it is the female who has the final say. She then lines her nest with down and lays nine to twelve oval eggs, one each day. In a little less than a month the eggs all hatch within several hours. The female then goes beneath the tree and calls her chicks. They respond by emerging from the nesting hole and dropping to the ground, uninjured, and follow their mother to feed. After forty to forty-five days, the chicks learn to fly and leave their parents to establish their own families. Mandarins sometimes form small flocks in the winter months, but for the most part shun the company of other ducks.

Because the Mandarin duck mates for life, it is a symbol of marital happiness and fidelity to the Chinese and Japanese. A old Japanese poem called it the bird of regret, describing its sorrow when left alone at the death of its mate.

1963, Tropical Birds JAPAN 100¥

1963, Tropical Birds  100-¥ JAPAN

Text: JAPAN 100 Yen 
Condition: Ø =USED/ Cancelled

Title:   Common Crane (Grus grus lilfordi)

Face value:     100

Stamp Currency:       Yen

Country/area:                     Japan

Year:   1963

Set:     1963

Stamp number in set:           1

Basic colour:           Grey | Pink

Exact colour:          

Usage:                           Definitives

Type:               Stamp

Theme:           Animals (Fauna) | Birds | Ducks

Stamp subject:           Common Crane (Grus grus lilfordi)

Michel number:         764

Yvert number:                        702 A

Scott number:                        

Stanley Gibbons number:   

Printing office:            

Perforation:    Comb 13 x 13½

Watermark:    

Paper:            

Printing:             Photogravure

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Common Crane (Grus grus)

The Common Crane is a large, stately bird and a medium-sized crane. It is 100–130 cm (40–52 in) tall with a 180–240 cm (71–96 in) wingspan. The body weight can range from 3 to 6.1 kg (6.6 to 13.4 lb), with the nominate subspecies averaging around 5.4 kg (12 lb) and the eastern subspecies (G. g. lilfordi) averaging 4.6 kg (10 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 50.7–60.8 cm (20.0–23.9 in) long, the tarsus is 20.1–25.2 cm (7.9–9.9 in) and the exposed culmen is 9.5–11.6 cm (3.7–4.6 in).

This species is slate-grey overall. The forehead and lores are blackish with a bare red crown and a white streak extending from behind the eyes to the upper back. The overall colour is darkest on the back and rump and palest on the breast and wings. The primaries, the tips of secondaries, the alula, the tip of the tail, and the edges of upper tail coverts are all black and the greater coverts droop into explosive plumes. This combination of colouration ultimately distinguishes it from similar species in Asia, like the Hooded and Black-necked Cranes. The juvenile has yellowish-brown tips to its body feathers and lacks the drooping wing feathers and the bright neck pattern of the adult, and has a fully feathered crown. Every two years, before migration, the adult Common Crane undergoes a complete moult, remaining flightless for six weeks, until the new feathers grow.

It has a loud trumpeting call, given in flight and display. The call is piercing and can be heard from a considerable distance. It has a dancing display, leaping with wings uplifted, described in detail below.