Japanese hometown (Furusato / prefecture) stamps
Carrying on with the topic of Japanese postage stamps, I’m heading towards the prefecture stamps (also known as as Furusato or hometown stamps). These are best described as kind of local governement stamps. Depending on the catalog these are listed either as separate section (Scott), in appendix (Stanley Gibbons catalogs pre-2010) or on separate section (Stanley Gibbons catalogs 2010 onwards), or mixed with regular national stamp issues (Michel).
So why the name? Japan is divided into multiple levels of political subdivisions; one of which is called prefectures. Since 1989 the Japanese postal administration has issued stamps for various prefectures. These stamps have been issued in the prefecture named on the stamp, as well as on all other prefectures in the same postal region (for example Shikoku postal region has jurisdiction over prefectures of Ehime , Kagawa , Tokushima , Kochi).
Additionally these stamps have been available to all through the Central Post Office in Tokyo and philatelic new issue service, so these are not strictly speaking locals. Prefecture stamps are valid for postage throughout Japan, and they can be used for international mailings too.
Identifying prefecture stamps from common Japanese stamps is somewhat easy for 1989-2007 period. Just look for the “Nippon Yubin” inscription on the stamp. They are of very different writing style on national and prefecture issues:
Difference between national and prefecture stamps is very easy to spot - just look for the inscription (enlarged).
Japan Post stopped using distinctive style inscription in 2007/2008, and for later issues the only way to tell a difference between national and hometown stamp is to look for specific characters used in prefecture names (often the last character on stamp does the trick). Below is a simple cheat sheet for these:
A must have cheatsheet for identifying post 2007 prefecture stamp issues.
I know it looks more complicated than it is. All one needs is a good magnifier (or similar enlargement tool) and some stamps to practice.
Each of the 47 prefectures have unique inscription of which these stamps and their precise origin can be identified. 43 of these prefectures end with ken-character (as the one on picture).
Though I usually prefer Michel approach with stamps, this time I would definitely value if it would list Furusato stamps separately. There are roughly 1,000 different hometown stamps, and locating them on midst of national issues can be a cumbersome project – especially as most prefecture stamps don’t carry any western / Latin characters that would help in determining year of issue.
As always, feel free to share your comments / thoughts.
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Interesting. I’ve heard of the “prefecture” stamps but didn’t really know what they are. Other than the inscription, are these the same as the national issue stamps, or do they have unique artwork?
@mrprgrmr… They have unique artwork very similar to national stamps. General themes such as nature, sceneries, animals are most common; very few prefecture stamps actually promote/commemorate local events etc.
Were these stamps only for sale in the specific prefecture, but vaild for postage anywhere in Japan?
The stamp above appears to be from Ehime prefecture. It is one of four prefectures on the island of Shikoku.
You can get a list of the prefectures, and their Japanese Kanji, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefectures_of_Japan
@Tiger Joe… They are valid in all of Japan, but they are sold in one postal region (one postal region can contain several prefectures).
Furusato or not a Furusato that is the question?
Having spent the last few days sorting through a big pile of Japanese prefecture stamps, I have learnt quite a lot more about the basics of identification, but I have been left with two nagging questions:
1) Are all stamps with the calligraphic style “Nippon” script Furusatos?
2) Do all Furusatos carry the prefecture name?
One would have thought the answer to both should be a straightforward “yes”. My lurking suspicion though is that Furusato identification may be more complicated than first meets the eye. If one takes the calligraphic style “Nippon” group (1989-1997/98); amongst these what I have found are the majority with the prefecture name, a few examples that have no additional text and some that have no prefecture name but can still be readily attributed to a prefecture by native Japanese, either by place names, etc or region specific imagery.
For those with regular “Nippon “ text, there are Furusatos with the prefecture name, stamps like the category above that carry distinctive imagery/text that suggest they might be Furusatos, and then the rest of the regular nationwide Japanese issues. If the answer to 2) is ever “no”, then we enter a real minefield in distinguishing non-prefecture named Furusatos from regular issues. Potentially any recent Japanese stamp could be a Furusato until proven otherwise. Are there any other keys? I suspect only national stamps carry year marks for example.
@Seth…
This should apply to all pre 2007/2008 issues.
I think they do. At least I haven’t learned otherwise (yet).
True.
Sadly the lack of year marks can’t be used to differentiate all Furusatos from national stamps. There are at least few exceptions to this otherwise valid rule.