Postage Stamps of the World

Stamps have played an integral role in the race among the great world powers. The Tokyo National Museum has about 15,000 stamps from around the world, dating from the middle of the Meiji era (1868 - 1911) through the Taisho era (1912 - 1925).

This exhibition, Postage Stamps of the World, includes stamps from many colonies dating from the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. Issuing stamps in the colonies clearly indicated that the colony belonged to a great superpower.

In order to validate their authenticity, international mail rules set by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) called for newly issued stamps to be sent to the member countries. It is known from stamp-collecting magazines of the Taisho era that the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications submitted one each to be stored at the Tokyo Imperial Museum. This exhibition features just over 500 unique portraits of royalty, mythological figures, plants and animals and nature scenes.