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1932

1933

1934

1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

Airmail

Overprint Announcing The Fall of Singapore

16 February 1942. This overprint announces the fall of Singapore to the Japanese armed forces on 15th February 1942 this is considered one of the greatest defeats in the history of the British Army.

The stamps, overprinted typographically, were the 2f (in red) and 4f (in blue) of the 1936 Fourth Regular Issue by the Manchukuo Postal Administration Office, Hsinking. A presentation booklet exists for this issue.  Any "specimen" stamps or sheets you may see for this issue are fakes.

The overprint consisted of two vertical and one horizontal row of characters.

                                   1,000,000            

    1,000,000                        

Postal Rates - From March 1942

10th Anniversary of the Founding of Manchukuo

First Commemorative Issue

1st March 1942. This is a set of four stamps recess printed on watermarked (see below) "granite" paper by the Manchukuo Postal Administration Office, Hsinking. Designs 2f and 4f by Hirozo Oya and the 10f and 20f by Yoai Ota. Note - copies of the 2f are said to exist that are offset printed, the printing appears sharper and more legible. Both the 10f and 20f appear to have been printed on yellow paper but, in fact, the paper is white with a yellow ground applied by litho prior to the design (see the 20f example below). A presentation booklet exists for this issue (see below).

The stamps had two slogans these appeared on the right margin of values 2f, 4f and 10f, and on the top margin of the 20f. These instructed "write clearly the name and address of sender and recipient" and, "wrap perfectly so things go through the mail safely".

 2f & 4f design the Kenkoku Shrine, Hsinking 22.5mm x 28.5mm, sheets of 70, Perf 12 x 12½.
10f & 20f design Map of Manchukuo 22.5mm x 28.5mm, sheets of 70, Perf 12 x 12½.

                                     3,150,000                   

Cover and Contents of Special Presentation Booklet.  The cover above looks like it has been specially hand coloured, however this is not the case and all are identical.

10th Anniversary of the Founding of Manchukuo

Second Commemorative Issue

15th September 1942. This is set of two stamps is the final issue in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Manchukuo. The 15th of September is significant because this was the official date of the formal Japanese diplomatic recognition of Manchukuo. The figures on both stamps were taken from a mural, painted on a wall of the National Ministry Building, called "National Harmony" by Japanese artist Saburo-suke Okada.

Recess printed on watermarked (see below) "granite" paper by the Manchukuo Postal Administration Office, Hsinking. Designs 3f by Mr Li Ping-ho and the 6f by Mr Yoai Ota. A presentation booklet exists for this issue (see below).  Any "specimen" stamps or sheets you may see for this issue are fakes.

The stamps had two slogans these appeared on the right margin of the 3f, and on the top margin of the 6f. These instructed "write clearly the name and address of sender and recipient" and, "wrap perfectly so things go through the mail safely".

 3f design The Good Harvest 22.5mm x 28.5mm, sheets of 70, Perf 12 x 12½.
6f design Women of Five Races 28.5mm x 22.5mm, sheets 70, Perf 12 ½ x 12.

 4,333,000

3,619,000

Cover and Contents of Special Presentation Booklet. To Western eyes it seems odd to see the 6f before the 3f, but it should be remembered the the Japanese read right to left, all of the booklets also open in the opposite way to a Western booklet. The bottom image shows the booklet before that stamps are added, like most of these booklets it is printed in two colours, one colour being used for the image of the stamps.

Overprint - First Anniversary of the Greater Asian War

1 December 1942. This overprint was to commemorate the anniversary of what the Japanese called the Greater Asian War, on 1st December 1941 the Japanese Navy sailed to attack the American naval base at Pearl Harbour, the attack was successfully launched on 7th December 1941 (American time), this effectively sealed the fate of both Japan and Manchukuo.

The stamps, overprinted typographically, were the 3f (in green) and 6f (in blue) of the 1936 Scenery Issue by the Manchukuo Postal Administration Office, Hsinking. A presentation booklet exists for this issue (see below).   Any "specimen" stamps or sheets you may see for this issue are fakes.

The overprint consisted of a row of characters reading "Asiatic prosperity starts this very day" and the figures 8.12.8. signifies the date 8th December 1941. The Japanese considered the attack on Pearl Harbour to have taken place on the 8th due to differences in the way they viewed time zones.

                         2,600,000

2,000,000               

Manchukuo Japan Reply Mail Coupon
 

These coupons are based upon the International Reply Coupon (Coupon Response Internationale otherwise known as an IRC). An International Reply Coupon is a coupon that can be exchanged for the minimum unregistered overland postage rate for a letter of up to twenty grams, sent to another member of the Universal Postal Union. The IRC was invented in China and they conform to a standard format and are used throughout the U.P.U.

Manchukuo was not recognised by the U.P.U. and as a result, the items below could only be used for mail between Manchukuo and Japan. A customer would purchase the coupon at their local Post Office and send it in a letter to Japan, the coupon could then be presented at a Post Office in Japan to pay for the return mail. This meant that the coupon values needed to reflect the Japanese postage rates for letters sent to Manchukuo (see the table below), these were often different to the rates for the sending of letters from Manchukuo to Japan. Prices in each case reflect the domestic fee for a standard rate letter within the basic weight limit (15 to 20g).

To see the information I have been able to gather about these items click here.

5f Reply Coupon dated 23rd December 1942, Hsinking Postmark.