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Manchukuo

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1932

1933

1934

1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

1940

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1943

1944

1945

Airmail

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Imprinted Postcards

Seals & Labels

Understanding Manchukuo Postmarks

This is an attempt at explaining a little about the postmarks or Manchukuo based upon the limited amount of material in this collection. Many postmarks are not shown here because examples have yet to be found, and a certain amount of caution is needed because this section may contain some errors. If you are interested in the postmarks of Manchukuo I recommend a very detailed book by Dr Robert W. Farquhar called Manchuria in Transition 1925 - 1934.

Whenever you see used stamps from Manchukuo being advertised the seller nearly always dates the stamp incorrectly by misreading the date on the postmark. This is because both in Manchukuo and Japan the year date is based upon the era of the reign of the current Emperor. The Chinese sequence is usually - Year : Month : Day  - if Arabic numerals are used or - Day : Month : Year - if the date is shown in characters.

Needless to say there are exceptions to the above. Postmarks on overseas mail from major towns such as Mukden (Moukden) and Harbin use Western dating, the appearance of this varies. Numbers in brackets indicate the time and the number next to this is normally the year. Hence (8) 1.12.2 would be (8am) 1932 December 2nd and 1.12.2 (8) would be 1st December 1933 (8am). This format only appears in early, larger diameter postmarks from the big cities such as Harbin.

The first era in Manchukuo started from the Founding of the state in 1932, this era was named Datong (大同), The second era starts from Enthronement of Pu-Yi as the Emperor Kang-teh on 1st March 1934 and was named Kangde (康德) "Tranquillity and Virtue". Both eras started with a year date 1.

22nd August 1935       1937 September 4th        1935 January 16th

 In Japan, (and Japanese postmarks often appear on covers from Manchukuo), the era name is Showa starting from the time of the enthronement of the Emperor Hirohito in 1926. In this case 1932 is year seven and 1945 is year twenty.

Chinese transit postmarks also appear on stamps and covers from Manchukuo and these start from the date of the founding of the Republic in 1911 making the year date for 1932, 21.

In the West we use the Gregorian Calendar. This is based upon the notional birth date of Christ being year one. This is now the internationally accepted civil calendar. Even this is expressed in different ways, the English system is most often used for postmarks - Day : Month : Year - the Americans use - Month : Day : Year.

It pays to look carefully at all postmarks and to check the dates. The table below might help.

Chinese (Minguo) Year No.

The Chinese objected to the use of the era date by Manchukuo and routinely obliterated it with ink using a brush. In this instance the postal employee has also obliterated the Orchid Crest, the symbol of Manchukuo.

Chinese characters relating to postage

Chinese characters relating to dates

Some Postmark Examples
(Often referred to as CDS standing for Circular Date Stamps)

Domestic Postmark 29mm Diameter dated in Chinese 12th April 1935 (year date indistinct)

Comb Style Postmark
1938 November 24th

Yenki postmark with Chinese characters for the date 9th September (indistinct, most likely 1936)

International Postmark from Harbin dated 8th February 1938 using English style Western dating.

Bulk Mail Killer, roller type - Used on newspaper wrappers, printed matter and parcels.

Comb Style Postmark
1938 February 15th. Moukden (奉天) Central (中央) P.O.

Domestic Postmark dated in Chinese 28th November (year date indistinct)

Bulk Mail Killer, roller type - Used on newspaper wrappers, printed matter and parcels.

Above - Registered letter with both a domestic postmark (in black) posted 12th July 1940 (era year date 7) and a red private cancellation (used by a company) dated 17th July 1940 (Japanese era year date 15). The oblong red chop signifies that the letter is registered and must be signed for on arrival. The blue chop is an item number.

This cover posted in Ling Yuan has a domestic postmark dated with the era year date showing that it was posted on 22nd September 1938 (era year date 5) time Midday to 4pm.

The letter also has an international transit postmark for Moukden (Mukden) with Western style dating 23. 9. 38. The postage stamp is 20f, correct for international mail. The cover does not have an arrival postmark.

I believe that Edwin J. Tharp was a missionary. I am not sure what the D.C. stands for.

I.J.P.O. & I.N.P.O. Postmarks

All Japanese foreign-mail exchange offices made use of the I.J.P.O. and I.N.P.O. comb style date stamps. Typically these simply consisted of the Town Name, Date.  I.J.P.O. stands for Imperial Japanese Post Office and in 1934 this was changed to I.N.P.O. Imperial Nipponese Post Office.

The Japanese had post offices in the Kwantung Leased Territory and until the Abolition of Extra Territorial Rights in December 1937, in many towns in Manchukuo that had links to the South Manchurian Railway Zone. These included the main cities of Hsinking, Mukden, Kirin and Harbin. These Japanese foreign-mail exchange offices would receive and despatch foreign mail and when doing so  I.J.P.O. and I.N.P.O. postmarks would appear usually in conjunction with the use Japanese stamps.

Moukden (Mukden) I.N.P.O. Foreign Mail Cover. Dated 17th December 1935 to the USA.

Mukden was part of the South Manchurian Railway Zone and it is not unusual to find post with Japanese (Comb) postmarks and Japanese stamps being used. In this instance a 10s stamp, the correct postage for foreign mail.

The above cover was posted of 20th February 1936 from Dairen in Manchukuo to London, as you can see it was a registered letter and bears the label "Dairen No 11" and the purple chop shows that it was sent via Siberia. The stamps ( 2 x 10sen and 1 x 6sen totalling 26sen) are Japanese and the purple comb style postmark has the letters I.N.P.O. We know it reached London safely because it is marked with a cross in blue pencil, typical of the English postal system. The reverse of this cover can be seen here.

I. J. P. O. and I..N.P.O. postmarks are usually associated with post from Dairen, Hsinking or Moukden (Mukden). Dairen was the largest city in the area known as the Kwantung Leased Territory, an area on less that 1500 square miles leased from China by Japan and the southern most terminus of the important South Manchurian Railway. The Japanese Post Office accepted both Japanese stamps and those of Manchukuo, so this postmark can appear on stamps of both types. Letters from other parts of Manchukuo to Japan often travelled through Dairen so it is not unusual to see I. J. P. O. Dairen as a transit postmark.

Authorised Commemorative Cancellations

These cancels can be found in a range of colours purple, red, reddish brown, green and vermillion. The random nature of the postmark colours indicates that the variety was probably due to the availability of inks at local post offices and has no other significance.  See more details about these here.

1st March 1937 Commemorative Cancel (Zirkle 26) 5th Anniversary of the Founding of the State - Wings and Torch.

Souvenir Cancellations

Railway stations, hotels, spa's, in fact tourist attractions of any description were able to design cancels for souvenir use, however, these cancels could not be used to send mail. Such was the interest in philately at the time that these must have proved popular as great numbers exist.

So while we are waiting for someone to write the next book "The Souvenir Cancellations of Manchoukuo" here are some examples.

A typical souvenir cancel from the holiday resort at Sungari Beach, Harbin. Dated 25th June 1934 it is on a 1f post card (1f was the rate for local use, with the addition of a ½f stamp it could be mailed domestically). This card could not be posted due to the unauthorised postmark. During this time the riverside resort at Harbin was so dangerous because of bandits that it had to be continuously patrolled by heavily armed "White Russian" guards.

This cancel showing pigs, a wind pump and what may be ploughed fields is curious. This looks like a Japanese cancel dated 28th July 1937. The Japanese were also keen on souvenir cancels. It was possibly issued at some kind of agricultural show.

 This chop dated 14th January 1937 seems to illustrate  the "Great Wall" but otherwise is unknown. It may be a souvenir of a visit or to commemorate an event.

Sea Posts cover. This is a cover cancelled upon the steamship Tsingtao Maru on 14th February 1939 and posted in Dairen on 15th February 1939. The dating system on the ship's cancel is Japanese, the 9 being the ninth year of the era Showa). There is no arrival date-stamp. The Tsingtao Maru was owned by the DKK (Dairen Kisen Kaisha) line and sunk by American aircraft in 1944.

This cover shows two cancels both dated 9.9.9. is 9th September 1934, using the Japanese dating system. The upper purple cancel is from Kirin Station, the lower red cancel is in commemoration of a visit to Kirin. The subjects appear to be the City Gate and the Racecourse. The Japanese were very keen on collecting these chops as souvenirs of visits so with unofficial chops the dating system used is often in Japanese. The heron decoration is printed onto the envelope.