Hi!
You are correct that the stamp is from Japan, and the two characters you've shown are, indeed, the characters for "Japan"! The other two characters next to it mean "post". ("Nihon (or "Nippon") yuubin.")
As for the Scott number, let me check and I'll get right back to you, if no one else answers first.
I think it's Scott 748, issued in 1962 as part of a definitive series.
Your stamp itself has a slightly more purplish tint to it than in the scan, right? (I've found some purples and blues are hard for a scanner to pick up correctly.)
Yes, it is purple !! Wow, thanks so much for your help
Great! Glad to help!
(Japan has occasionally gone through periods where it didn't write something in Roman letters to indicate that it was from Japan.)
Hi everyone
How do I find a relatively recent Japan stamp catalog pref with colour illustrations? I've decided to give Japan a go, and bought a pack of 300 different - but now I find Gibbons doesn't do a current Japan cat, so I'm floundering about trying to find a catalog that won't cost more than my budget for the stamps! I've actually bought what I hoped would be a nice recent Gibbons with colour, but it arrived today and .. it's 1992, and black and white. I rang Gibbons and a lady told me they have no plans at present issue a new Japan cat - and if they do, it'll cost an arm and a leg. I expect!
There's a bloke selling pages cut out of last year's Scott - and somebody in Eastern Europe selling what appears to be an on line Japan catalog. I feel a bit leery about that. Maybe Yvert? or Michel? Or Sakura, if it's affordable.
So, what to do?? For the moment I have to bite the bullet and rely on my 1992 one. The more recent issues will just have to wait!
If the "bloke" you are referring to is on eBay (seller name is chirokmd), he offers a useful service providing just the pages you need from the latest Scott catalogue. I turn to him as my interests expand. And, no, I'm not the seller in question. If you're not in the States, the shipping costs may be an issue.
Take a look at your getting your hands on the Sakura. It's mainly in Japanese but some of the data is in English. I just got hold of the most recent version and was quite impressed. Like you, I am just starting out in this area and this will be a useful catalog to get me up and running.
I've recently picked up a little bit of experience with this.
Japan is my primarily collecting interest, and I actively collected new issues up until 2001, when I just hit the wall with the preponderance of stamps Japan Post was pumping out. If I'm recalling correctly, in recent years, it's more than 700+ face different stamps each year. It's just insane.
So I took a couple of decades off, but recently decided, during this pandemic, that I'd try my hand at recent used.
I have new Scott and Sakura (2021 for each), and each of them misses the mark in some way. I'll explain why I think that, and then I'll recommend a slightly different strategy.
Scott *still* does not always show all images, particularly when the designs are similar, but sometimes not similar enough to identify the right set, although Scott is better than it used to be about this. But even then, on panes where 10 or more stamps are face different, a lot of times the image shown is too small to be able to figure out what you have.
Sakura has that same problem with the pane stamp images -- often, in my opinion, too small to be able to discern well the designs of individual stamps. There's also a compounding problem. Sakura categorizes stamps into more categories than Scott, so, in addition to looking in the 'commemoratives' section, you also need to look in the prefecturals ('Furusato' in Sakura) as well as the 'Greetings' stamp section.
It used to be that you could tell the prefectural stamps by the different font, but that's not true anymore. So, unless you get good at figuring out what's greetings, what's prefectural, and what's just a commemorative, it means you need to look in 3 different sections. It can get frustrating. And it's time-consuming, whether using Scott or Sakura.
What I accidentally stumbled on is a tool that I haven't seen mentioned as much as I would've thought.
I found that using the smartphone app for Colnect (called 'Stamp Identifier' on the Android platform) turned out to be great first start. You take a pic of the stamp, crop and orient it, and then hit search. If it can find it, it'll give you a Colnect number, the Sakura (for Japanese stamps), and often the SG number and the 'Sn' number, which basically correlates with the Scott number.
I've found that the app is correct and successful maybe 85-90% of the time. The remaining 10-15% still require pouring over the catalog, but it's a real time-saver for that 85-90%.
I'll just add that I used to think that Stampworld and Colnect were pretty much equivalent, but I've found for recent Japan, Colnect is more complete with images and cross-references to the major catalogs.
I think there's a way to use the stamp image search with Colnect on a regular computer, but I can't speak to how that works. It would require at least a couple of additional steps to get the stamp image onto your computer, but if a smartphone weren't available, that seems like a viable alternative.
I hope this helps a little bit!
Let me add that the guy who sells genuine Scott catalog pages is legitimate. I've used him in years when I didn't think I could really afford to update the Scott's.
Here is his listing for the 2021 Japan pages.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Japan-2021-Scott-Catalogue-Pages-19-220/383630808071?
I see that his shipping to the UK is not as bad as I thought it might be: $13.00. Domestic US shipping is $6.50, so that's really not too bad (plus it has to ship as a package).
(I have no connection with him, other than as a satisfied customer.)
And this dealer in the UK has the Sakura (and other Japanese catalogs), where shipping would be more reasonable for you.
https://japanphilatelic.com/product-category/japan-catalogues/
Wow - those are really helpful responses! Thanks to all of you, especially Philatarium, for all your advice.
Terrific! My fingers are crossed!
" .... Terrific! My fingers are crossed! ...."
Not only hard to type that way, but handling
tweezers appears to be near impossible.
Following Philatarium's advice, I've ordered a 2015 Sakura catalogue from the UK's Japan Philatelic Society. I'm rarin' to go!
And the Sakura catalogue has finally arrived (seller said his stuff was all in storage pending a premises move). I now have to find my way round it - happily, while 95% of the text is in Japanese, there's an index in English. And the dates are almost in English - day/month/year.
So I'll now arrange the job lots of Japanese stamps I've so far accumulated into Sakura order. Commemoratives, Prefectural stamps, definitives, airs, national park stamps amnd greetings stamps. That'll keep me quiet for a while!
" ... So I'll now arrange the job lots of
Japanese stamps I've so far accumulated
into Sakura order. Commemoratives,
Prefectural stamps, definitives, airs,
national park stamps amnd greetings
stamps. That'll keep me quiet for a while! ..."
Good Luck with that.
Hmmm ... I see what you mean, Charlie. Still, it's good clean fun.
Neville
Hello, I'm just trying to identify this stamp
What I've been able to find on my own is that apparently the first two characters on top say "Japan" , although I don't know what the other two characters mean, and possibly it is from around the 1960s, as it looks somewhat similar in style to the one here
I'd appreciate if you could help me out any further. Thank you!
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
Hi!
You are correct that the stamp is from Japan, and the two characters you've shown are, indeed, the characters for "Japan"! The other two characters next to it mean "post". ("Nihon (or "Nippon") yuubin.")
As for the Scott number, let me check and I'll get right back to you, if no one else answers first.
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
I think it's Scott 748, issued in 1962 as part of a definitive series.
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
Your stamp itself has a slightly more purplish tint to it than in the scan, right? (I've found some purples and blues are hard for a scanner to pick up correctly.)
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
Yes, it is purple !! Wow, thanks so much for your help
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
Great! Glad to help!
(Japan has occasionally gone through periods where it didn't write something in Roman letters to indicate that it was from Japan.)
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
Hi everyone
How do I find a relatively recent Japan stamp catalog pref with colour illustrations? I've decided to give Japan a go, and bought a pack of 300 different - but now I find Gibbons doesn't do a current Japan cat, so I'm floundering about trying to find a catalog that won't cost more than my budget for the stamps! I've actually bought what I hoped would be a nice recent Gibbons with colour, but it arrived today and .. it's 1992, and black and white. I rang Gibbons and a lady told me they have no plans at present issue a new Japan cat - and if they do, it'll cost an arm and a leg. I expect!
There's a bloke selling pages cut out of last year's Scott - and somebody in Eastern Europe selling what appears to be an on line Japan catalog. I feel a bit leery about that. Maybe Yvert? or Michel? Or Sakura, if it's affordable.
So, what to do?? For the moment I have to bite the bullet and rely on my 1992 one. The more recent issues will just have to wait!
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
If the "bloke" you are referring to is on eBay (seller name is chirokmd), he offers a useful service providing just the pages you need from the latest Scott catalogue. I turn to him as my interests expand. And, no, I'm not the seller in question. If you're not in the States, the shipping costs may be an issue.
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
Take a look at your getting your hands on the Sakura. It's mainly in Japanese but some of the data is in English. I just got hold of the most recent version and was quite impressed. Like you, I am just starting out in this area and this will be a useful catalog to get me up and running.
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
I've recently picked up a little bit of experience with this.
Japan is my primarily collecting interest, and I actively collected new issues up until 2001, when I just hit the wall with the preponderance of stamps Japan Post was pumping out. If I'm recalling correctly, in recent years, it's more than 700+ face different stamps each year. It's just insane.
So I took a couple of decades off, but recently decided, during this pandemic, that I'd try my hand at recent used.
I have new Scott and Sakura (2021 for each), and each of them misses the mark in some way. I'll explain why I think that, and then I'll recommend a slightly different strategy.
Scott *still* does not always show all images, particularly when the designs are similar, but sometimes not similar enough to identify the right set, although Scott is better than it used to be about this. But even then, on panes where 10 or more stamps are face different, a lot of times the image shown is too small to be able to figure out what you have.
Sakura has that same problem with the pane stamp images -- often, in my opinion, too small to be able to discern well the designs of individual stamps. There's also a compounding problem. Sakura categorizes stamps into more categories than Scott, so, in addition to looking in the 'commemoratives' section, you also need to look in the prefecturals ('Furusato' in Sakura) as well as the 'Greetings' stamp section.
It used to be that you could tell the prefectural stamps by the different font, but that's not true anymore. So, unless you get good at figuring out what's greetings, what's prefectural, and what's just a commemorative, it means you need to look in 3 different sections. It can get frustrating. And it's time-consuming, whether using Scott or Sakura.
What I accidentally stumbled on is a tool that I haven't seen mentioned as much as I would've thought.
I found that using the smartphone app for Colnect (called 'Stamp Identifier' on the Android platform) turned out to be great first start. You take a pic of the stamp, crop and orient it, and then hit search. If it can find it, it'll give you a Colnect number, the Sakura (for Japanese stamps), and often the SG number and the 'Sn' number, which basically correlates with the Scott number.
I've found that the app is correct and successful maybe 85-90% of the time. The remaining 10-15% still require pouring over the catalog, but it's a real time-saver for that 85-90%.
I'll just add that I used to think that Stampworld and Colnect were pretty much equivalent, but I've found for recent Japan, Colnect is more complete with images and cross-references to the major catalogs.
I think there's a way to use the stamp image search with Colnect on a regular computer, but I can't speak to how that works. It would require at least a couple of additional steps to get the stamp image onto your computer, but if a smartphone weren't available, that seems like a viable alternative.
I hope this helps a little bit!
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
Let me add that the guy who sells genuine Scott catalog pages is legitimate. I've used him in years when I didn't think I could really afford to update the Scott's.
Here is his listing for the 2021 Japan pages.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Japan-2021-Scott-Catalogue-Pages-19-220/383630808071?
I see that his shipping to the UK is not as bad as I thought it might be: $13.00. Domestic US shipping is $6.50, so that's really not too bad (plus it has to ship as a package).
(I have no connection with him, other than as a satisfied customer.)
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
And this dealer in the UK has the Sakura (and other Japanese catalogs), where shipping would be more reasonable for you.
https://japanphilatelic.com/product-category/japan-catalogues/
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
Wow - those are really helpful responses! Thanks to all of you, especially Philatarium, for all your advice.
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
Terrific! My fingers are crossed!
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
" .... Terrific! My fingers are crossed! ...."
Not only hard to type that way, but handling
tweezers appears to be near impossible.
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
Following Philatarium's advice, I've ordered a 2015 Sakura catalogue from the UK's Japan Philatelic Society. I'm rarin' to go!
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
And the Sakura catalogue has finally arrived (seller said his stuff was all in storage pending a premises move). I now have to find my way round it - happily, while 95% of the text is in Japanese, there's an index in English. And the dates are almost in English - day/month/year.
So I'll now arrange the job lots of Japanese stamps I've so far accumulated into Sakura order. Commemoratives, Prefectural stamps, definitives, airs, national park stamps amnd greetings stamps. That'll keep me quiet for a while!
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
" ... So I'll now arrange the job lots of
Japanese stamps I've so far accumulated
into Sakura order. Commemoratives,
Prefectural stamps, definitives, airs,
national park stamps amnd greetings
stamps. That'll keep me quiet for a while! ..."
Good Luck with that.
re: Japanese stamp identification, please help
Hmmm ... I see what you mean, Charlie. Still, it's good clean fun.
Neville