First Air Mail Stamp
First Air Mail Stamp
October 6, 1929
Trial air mail services were started in 1919 but were not officially begun until the Air Mail Regulations were established in 1929. To coincide with the start of the new service, the first stamps for use on air mail articles were issued. These stamps were also usable as ordinary stamps.
The last air mail stamp issued in Japan came out in 1953 and was called the 'Great Buddha air mail stamp.' At present there are no stamps issued exclusively for use on air mail.
First Stamp Roll
November 1, 1933
This stamp was produced especially for use in stamp vending machines and automatic stamp affixing machines. Each roll contained 500 or 1,000 stamps joined vertically in a long band. Perforations were provided along the top and bottom of each stamp.
The roll stamps are also called 'coiled stamps.'
Change to Picture Designs
May 10, 1937
The design of the Tazawa stamps that had been used since 1913 had lost appeal with changing times. There were suggestions that a stamp with a new design should be issued.
New stamps featuring picture designs, in keeping with popular tastes of the time, were issued. These stamps were issued over three years until 1940. The denominations ranged from 5 rin (one-tenth of a sen) to 10 yen.
Issue of a Postal Savings Stamp
July 1, 1941
The official name of this stamp was the '10 Sen Postage Stamp for Attachment to the Postage Stamp Savings Mount.'
The postal savings system using postage stamps started in 1900. It was temporarily suspended after the Great Kanto Earthquake and savings of 50 sen or less were no longer accepted. A postal savings system using stamps was then revived to encourage saving of even small amounts.
The mount allowed the printed face of the postal savings stamp to be cut out and used on mail. This advantage set it apart from the mount for printed stamp faces used in the Meiji Era (1868 to 1912).
