JAPAN - 日本国 Nippon-koku / Nihon-koku

Japan (Japanese: 日本, Nippon or Nihon ) is an island country located off the eastern coast of the Asian continent. It is bordered by the Sea of Japan to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east, and extends more than 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China Sea in the southwest. Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan encompasses a stratovolcanic archipelago of 6,852 islands; five main islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Okinawa) comprise 97% of the country's total area of 377,975 square kilometers (145,937 sq mi) and more than 99% of its population.Japan is officially divided into 47 prefectures and traditionally into eight regions. About three-fourths of the country's terrain is mountainous, with much of the remainder made up by low-lying coastal plains. As a result, Japan is among the most densely populated and urbanized countries in the world, with more than 90% of its population living in urban areas. 

The kanji (or "Chinese characters") that make up the name of Japan in the Japanese language mean "sun origin"; in the Western world, the country is sometimes known by the sobriquet "Land of the Rising Sun". Periods of influence from other regions, primarily China, followed by periods of isolation, particularly from Western Europe, have characterized the history of Japan. The Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nihon or Nippon. The character nichi (日) means "sun" or "day"; hon (本) means "base" or "origin". The compound therefore means "origin of the sun" and is the source of the popular Western epithet "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japan has nine forest ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands. They range from subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the Ryūkyū and Bonin Islands, to temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the mild climate regions of the main islands, to temperate coniferous forests in the cold, winter portions of the northern islands. Japan has over 90,000 species of wildlife, including the brown bear, the Japanese macaque, the Japanese raccoon dog, the large Japanese field mouse, and the Japanese giant salamander. A large network of national parks has been established to protect important areas of flora and fauna as well as thirty-seven Ramsar wetland sites.  Four sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for their outstanding natural value.

In 1870, Baron Maeshima visited London to learn the workings of the British postal system, and founded Japan's postal system in 1871. The first stamps were issued in April 1871, in a set of four covering the different postal rates; the intricate two-color design consisted of a pair of dragons facing towards the center, where the characters of value were printed in black. The denominations were in mon, which had already been superseded by the yen; the same basic design denominated in yen appeared in 1872, but was itself soon replaced by a new set of four designs featuring the imperial crest. In 1876, a long definitive series was introduced, with a generally oval inner frame, and inscribed "IMPERIAL JAPANESE POST". Japan joined the UPU in 1877.

1935 saw the first New Year's stamp, issued at the end of the year to pay postage on New Year's cards. It depicted Mount Fuji, as did the first of a long-running series of national parks issues, appearing in 1936. In accordance with UPU regulations, in 1966, Japanese started including the name "NIPPON" in Latin characters in addition to the Latin-character denomination. From 1989 to 2007, prefecture stamps appeared. Although valid for postage throughout the country, the designs are specific to the prefecture and are only sold in the prefecture's postal region. From 2008, prefectural issues were available for sale nationwide. Moreover, the calligraphic style of the characters for "Japan Post" on each stamp were changed to reflect the style used in non-prefecture issues for most stamps. The postal system was reorganized in 2003 with the creation of Japan Post.  Since 2007, the nation's post offices have been managed by the firm Japan Post Network, which is itself a part of the larger Japan Post Holdings conglomerate. As of December 2017, the smaller company has been managed by CEO Koji Furukawa. The simple Japanese postal mark, introduced in 1887, is still used to this day.

The Ryukyu Islands are a chain of islands in the western Pacific Ocean, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. The largest of the islands is Okinawa Island. The Ryukyu Kingdom was formally annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1872, although the kingdom had been part of the feudal Satsuma Domain in Kyushu since 1609. During World War II, the islands came under the occupation of the United States military in 1945, and a civilian government was set up under American control in 1952. The islands reverted to the control of Japan in 1972.  The first definitive stamps of the Ryukyu Islands were issued on July 1, 1948, and the first commemorative stamps were issued on February 12, 1951. The final Ryukyu Island stamp was a commemorative stamp issued on April 20, 1972, after which time stamps of Japan were valid.

Beautiful Japan-India Joint Issue stamps affixed airmail covers sent by Mitsushiko from Japan. I was searching a lot for the Joint Issue sets but could not find, finally Mitsushiko gifted to me. On the second cover, The right sided two stamps are related to my State Kerala, showing the picture of our Traditional Art Dance Mohiniyattam and Kadhakali. So These two covers are very special to me. Thank You very much Mitsushiko for the perfect cover into my collection.

This is another nice cover sent by Mitsushiko with Mountains of Japan stamps. Those stamps are gifted by another good Japanese friend Kotomi. Thanks Kotomi and Mitsushiko for the good job.