This study provides a basic introduction to Japanese philately and the Japanese language-it is must reading for any non-Japanese speaking person attempting to either collect or market Japanese philatelic material. Although it is often said that spoken Japanese is no more difficult to learn than Spanish or Italian, the written language is formidable. This factor has discouraged many persons from collecting the country altogether; in other instances the language barrier has restricted the interests of serious collectors to "Roman-letter" markings.

  The first 21 chapters of this book (Section I) are intended primarily for new and intermediate collectors of Japan. Some 1,750 Japanese philatelic terms and phrases are presented in alphabetical sequence (English) within each chapter and accompanied by 340 illustrations. Each entry includes romaji (romanized Japanese), kanji, and an English explanation.

  Section II is intended for the seasoned collector-it rearranges all of the terms initially presented in Section I into stroke-count sequence. This approach enables persons unfamiliar with the language to approximate the number of strokes in a character and thereby look it up directly. The process completely eliminates the necessity of having to associate a sound with a character before looking it up—a major source of confusion for anyone who has not studied the language intensely.

  Part B of Section II, which lists 497 different place names in stroke-count sequence, should be a major boon to cancellation collectors. The characters in many place names were abbreviated or shortened after World War II. Unfortunately, most modem dictionaries present only the current form-a constant source of irritation to collectors. Section B reflects the current forms and well as the pre-war formats. All major character revisions since World War II are also summarized in the Appendices.

  For years, dealers and collectors alike have sought an explanation of the cover evaluations contained at the end of each chapter on definitive stamps in the Japanese Specialized Stamp Catalog-JSCA (Nissen Nihon Kitte Senmon Katarogu). While there are no "quick fixes" short of a complete translation, the examples and guidelines provided in Section III should enable the dedicated collector to decipher most of the data contained in these passages. To assist this process, 109 terms relating to postal categories and cover valuations are listed in stroke count sequence. This publication belongs in the library of everyone who collects Japan.

  Reprinted from the May/June 2000 edition of The Bay Phil, a bi-monthly publication of the Friends of the Western Philatelic Library (FWPL), Inc., located in Sunnyvale, CA.

  Awarded a gold medal at Colopex 2000 in Denver, Colorodo in March 2000. Also judged best handbook in the show. Also awarded a gold medal at APS STAMPSHOW 2000 held in Providence, Rhode Island in August 2000.