In the Crypto Stamp series so far, we’ve explored crypto stamps from Switzerland, Gibraltar, Austria and Belgium, Year of the Dragon crypto stamps and some of the new releases in 2024 and 2025. And a few more 2025 releases are covered in Part 1and Part 2. Today, we’ll talk about crypto stamps from Japan.
Japan’s first crypto stamp-style releases had a very natural and traditional feeling. Instead of starting with futuristic or modern designs, Japan Post chose artwork based on regular Japanese stamps, showing animals, flowers, and national parks. This made the first release feel closely connected to classic Japanese philately.
The animal series included five well-known Japanese animals: the snow hare, Japanese macaque, crested ibis, sika deer, and Japanese serow. These designs showed animals that are strongly connected with Japan’s nature, mountains, forests, and wildlife. They were not just decorative pictures, but small portraits of animals that have meaning in Japanese culture and natural history.
Snow hare, Japanese macaque, Crested ibis, Sika deer, Japanese serow,
Somei Yoshino, Ume, Violets, Primrose, Fuji, Yamabuki,
Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park (coral in the sea), Oze National Park (Ozegahara and Mt. Shibutsu), Setonaikai National Park (Setouchi Islands), Towada Hachimantai National Park (Oirase Stream)
Japan - 2022/10/03
Copyright: Japan Post
The flower series continued in the same calm and elegant style. It included Somei Yoshino cherry blossom, ume, violet, primrose, wisteria, and yamabuki. These flowers are familiar in Japanese art and seasonal imagery, so they were a very suitable choice for the country’s first NFT stamp-art release.
The scenery series focused on Japanese national parks. It showed Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park, Oze National Park, Setonaikai National Park, and Towada-Hachimantai National Park. Through these designs, the release presented Japan not only through animals and plants, but also through larger natural landscapes such as coral seas, wetlands, islands, streams, and mountain scenery.
What makes this first Japanese crypto stamp-style issue interesting is that it did not try to look like a digital experiment at first glance. The subjects were traditional, peaceful, and very philatelic. The digital part was new, but the visual language came from ordinary stamp collecting: nature, careful illustration, and national identity.
In 2023, Japan continued its crypto stamp-style releases with Posukuma, Japan Post’s cute teddy bear postman. This was very different from the first Japanese NFT stamp-art issue, which focused on animals, flowers, and national parks. Instead of nature, the 2023 series focused on one character and his small postal world.
Posukuma is shown as a friendly bear who works at the post office in the forest and delivers letters with a smile. Because of this, the series feels warm, simple, and easy to connect with. It is not only about digital collecting, but also about the idea of sending letters, friendship, and the charm of traditional postal culture.
Nice to meet you! Posukuma (Copyright: Japan Post)
Japan – 2023/01/16
The first Posukuma release was “Nice to meet you! Posukuma”, issued in January 2023. It introduced Posukuma and his friends through designs based on earlier Japanese postage stamps. Other releases showed Posukuma enjoying food, travelling, remembering his childhood dream of becoming a postman, playing with friends, and celebrating his 10th anniversary.
Some designs are especially charming because they show Posukuma in very imaginative situations. He travels to England, delivers mail in space, brings letters to Antarctica, and even relaxes in a hot spring. These scenes make the issue feel more like a small illustrated story than a normal stamp release.
Today, we’ve seen two interesting Japanese crypto stamp series from 2022 and 2023. While you wait for the next article in this series, feel free to take a look at some of our previous articles.
Crypto & Philately: Exploring the 2025 Crypto Stamp Releases – Part 2
Crypto & Philately: Exploring the 2025 Crypto Stamp Releases – Part 1
Crypto & Philately: Exploring the 2024/2025 Crypto Stamp Releases
Crypto and Philately: Austrian Crypto Stamps
Crypto and Philately: Gibraltar Crypto Stamps
