In the previous article we’ve talked about rarest and most valuable Japanese stamps. Today we’ll take a look what happened with philately and stamps in Japan during World War II.
It is difficult to talk about Japan during World War II without first looking at the events that happened before it. One of the key events was the Second Sino-Japanese War, which began in 1937, when Japan expanded its military campaign in China. Because of this, Japan’s war did not really begin only with the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. By that time, Japan had already been fighting in China for several years.
First Shōwa definitives, 1937-1940
Japan
After Pearl Harbor, the conflict became part of the wider Pacific War. Japan was now directly fighting against the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, China, and other Allied powers. During this period, Japan occupied or controlled large parts of East and Southeast Asia, including Manchuria, large areas of China, French Indochina, Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore, Burma, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Timor, parts of New Guinea, Guam, Wake Island, and many Pacific islands. Korea and Taiwan were also under Japanese rule, although they had been taken earlier and were not newly occupied during World War II.
Japan presented this expansion as part of the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”. In reality, these territories were controlled mainly for military, political, and economic reasons. This expansion also had a strong impact on philately. Stamps, overprints, occupation issues, postal markings, and military mail became part of the way Japan showed its authority in the territories it controlled.
10 sen “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”
Japan - 1942
The Pacific War began in December 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and, almost at the same time, moved against several British, American, and Dutch territories in Asia and the Pacific. In the first months of the war, Japan expanded very quickly. It took control of places such as Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaya, Burma, and the Dutch East Indies.
Fall of Singapore
General Maresuke Nogi and Admiral Heihachiro Togo
Japan - 1942
This gave Japan a huge empire, but it also created a very difficult problem. Japan had to control, supply, and connect territories spread across thousands of islands and large parts of Asia. As the war continued, the United States and its allies slowly pushed Japan back, island by island. At the same time, Japan’s supply lines became weaker, and it became harder to defend such a large area.
By 1945, Japan was in a very difficult position. Its navy and air force had been badly weakened, many occupied territories were lost, and American bombing raids were causing enormous destruction in Japanese cities. In August 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Around the same time, the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan.
Soon after that, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945. The formal surrender was signed on September 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri. This marked the official end of the Pacific War and World War II.
Today, we talked a bit about Japan during WWII and looked at some notable stamps from that period. While you wait for the next article, please take a look at some of our previous ones.
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