Japanese selling her songs

It is not a special stamps - ordinary stamps songs series issued by Japanese Post and Telecommunication Ministry last January 26. But projection of the design of the stamps could trigger a big question to collectors. If you don't know the series neither also the songs, just try to figure it what kind of image the designer trying to catch it, especially to the 80 yen nominal.

A series of two stamps - 50 yen and 80 yen - each has a specific characteristic, both physical technic of production and also the image of those stamps. This is because each stamps was designed by different persons and the technical details has a connection with the preventive measures or security matters of it stamps.

It appears like the same size, but the 80 yen actuallu 0,3 mm wider than the other. This is one of the preventive measure - a characteristic of Japanese stamps. Like also the Japanese, they're all too careful person - very difficult to make a close relatuons with them. But after they knew you well, it's like a power glue - always want together and trust you so much.

Another distinction of Japanese stamps - to avoid from a bogus man - they made the stamps seems like no relations at all, even those stamps in a series.

Just look at the favorite songs series No.8. This two stamps - 50 yen and 80 yen - if you bring its to somebody who don't know about stamps, he or she will tell you that both stamps from a different series. That person is might be will tell you that the 50 yen stamps is a paintings series and the 80 yen stamps is a children series.

Please have a look to the 50 yen stamps with a picture of a river (blue). Then the other - 80 yen - with the picture seems like a fairies. In a simple look, everybody maybe will say - yes - that is exactly a children's stamps.

Unfortunately both stamps are in one series - Japanese Favorite Songs No.8 stamps series. To distinguish this stamps are from the same series, just look at the bottom of those stamps. A music bar with the same type of printing -except different color, gold and violet - with the same place - at the bottom of the stamps, and also the characters of Nippon, the kanji and the figure, could be recognized as a similarity of signs of those two stamps as a series.

The 50 yen stamps was printed only 24 millions pieces. This value valid only for a domestic (only Japan) postcard. Then the 80 yen nominal for ordinary domestic letter with the weight no more than 25 gram - a new postal fee since last year. The 80 yen nominal was printed for 6 millions more than the 50 yen nominal.

The songs itself are really a very popular songs with different substance level of people. The 50 yen stamps with the song "Kawa no nagare no you ni" is popular because of the popular old singer, Misora Hibari has a great voice singing that song tens of years ago.

Angd the other song (80 yen) - Shiki no utha - actually is a people's song and nobody knows the composer of that song. This is a song about four seasons in Japan - haru (autumn), natsu (summer), aki (fall), and fuyu (winter).

Tokyo, January 27, 1999
Richard Susilo