The first meters came into use in 1950 and were used only in post offices. They were inscribed “JAPANESE POSTAGE”. Since then, all stamps have Japanese inscription 日 本 郵 便 (Japanese Post) in one form or another in the frank and a country name in English in the town mark as follows: 1952 –1965 “JAPAN” 1965 –1977 “JAPAN” (private use) / “NIPPON” (Post Office use) 1977 onward “NIPPON” The stamps are grouped as follows: A - frameless horizontal or square design with Mount Fuji motif, circular town mark B - small horizontal, straight-line rectangle C - square frank, dove with spread wings at bottom D - upright frank, single-line frame and ornamental corners E - nearly square frank, double wavy border at top, Mount Fuji motif with curled corners at bottom F - frameless horizontal design with Mount Fuji motif, straight-line town mark G - frameless horizontal design with flying dove over globe motif H - small, upright frank with notched, single-line frame I - nearly square frank with simulated-perforation border J - nearly square frank, unframed, with country inscription vertical at left PO - designs used only in post offices PV - designs used only in self-service stamp vending machines Three vertical lines at right of stamp: In 1965 all new and replacement private use meter dies were required to include three bold vertical lines along the right edge. This made the stamps compatible with new automatic mail sorting equipment. Fielded meters in use at the time were exempt. In later years, some Post Office and Self-Service meter stamps also included the three lines. Year of the Emperor: Stamps are found occasionally with the year of the reigning monarch rather than Western year. For specialized information about the meter stamps of Japan, see Handbook of Japanese Meter Stamps, compiled by the Meter Stamp Unit of the Japan Philatelic Society, Inc., 2000. AA1. Pitney Bowes “R” (MV), 1952. “日 本 郵 便 ” vertical at right next to two vertical lines at far right. Value figures in small square box. Small date figures with either Roman month or as 1.12. M# with “P.B.” prefix at bottom center. A. “JAPAN” in TM B. “NIPPON” in TM    [Scarce] TM: SC V/F:      ≋00      000 AA2. Pitney Bowes “5000” (MV), 1962. [Scarce] Similar to Type AA1 but wider value box. M# with “P.B.” prefix at bottom center. A. “JAPAN” in TM B. “NIPPON” in TM C. As A, but with three vertical lines at far right, M# 300 only TM: SC V/F:      ≋000      0000 a. As A, with “通 用 当 日 限 り“ replacing the meter number. The characters translate to “Valid on date of issue only”. AA3. Pitney Bowes "5000" (MV), 1965. As Type AA2 but the value box is wider still. M# with "P.B." prefix at bottom center. A. “JAPAN” in TM, no vertical lines at right. M# 309 and 310 only. [Scarce] B. “NIPPON” in TM, three vertical lines at right TM: SC V/F:      ≋0000      000000 AA4. Pitney Bowes-GB “5000” (MV), 1967. Similar to Type AA2 but town mark much larger, and date figures taller and closer together. A. “JAPAN” in TM. Horizontal dash at top left of TM 6 mm long B. “JAPAN” in TM. Horizontal dash at top left of TM 10 mm long C. “NIPPON” in TM. Horizontal dash at top left of TM 6 mm long D. “NIPPON” in TM, three vertical lines at right E. "NIPPON" in TM. Horizontal dash at top left of TM 10 mm long TM: SC V/F:      ≋000 a. With “通 用 当 日 限 り” replacing the meter number. The characters translate to “Valid on date of issue only” AA5. Pitney Bowes-GB “5000” (MV), 1969. Similar to Type AA4 but the value box has no right side, and the frank has three vertical lines at far right. A. “JAPAN” in TM B. “NIPPON” in TM TM: SC V/F:      ≋000 a. Value box with lines at top and left only, no bottom line AA6. Pitney Bowes-GB “Simplex” (LV-21), 1963. [Scarce] Rectangular frank wider than tall, with two vertical lines at far right. Distance between TM and frank 21-22 mm. TM: DC with “JAPAN” at the bottom Values:      1 to 21? AA7. Pitney Bowes-GB “Automax” (MV), 1963. [Scarce] Similar to Type AA6 but frank is square, and distance between TM and frank is shorter, 13 mm. TM: DC with “JAPAN” at bottom V/F:      =000 NOTE: Shown is a specimen impression with unengraved elements. AA8. Pitney Bowes-GB “6300” (MV), 1973. Value box raised with date and value figures on same level. M# at bottom below value figures. Three vertical lines at far right. A. “NIPPON” in TM. M# with “P.B.” prefix B. “JAPAN” in TM. M# with “Y” prefix. C. “NIPPON” in TM. M# with “Y” prefix. TM: SC V/F:      ≋000 AA9. Pitney Bowes-GB “6900” (MV), 1986. Large frank. 日 本 郵 便 horizontal above and “NIPPON” below large square value box. TM: SC V/F:      ≋000      0000 AA10. Pitney Bowes “A/B900” (MV), 1991. Similar to Type AA9 but shorter. Value box is wider than tall. TM: SC V/F:      ≋0000 AA11. Pitney Bowes “Paragon” (MV), 1993. Similar to Types AA9 and 10 but value figures not boxed. Prefix “PB” above M#. TM: SC V/F:      ≋0000 AB1. Satas “Federal” and “Rotary” (MV), 1960. [Scarce] Without inner box around value figures. A. TM with “JAPAN” at bottom. M# with “SF”, “SR” or “SRT” prefix B. TM with “NIPPON” at bottom. M# with “SR” prefix TM: SC V/F:      ★00      ★000 AC1. Postalia “WK4” (MV), 1982. A. M# with “PF” prefix B. M# with “WK” prefix TM: SC with “NIPPON” at bottom V/F:      0000 AC2. Francotyp-Postalia “NEF300” (MV). Similar to Type AC1 but 日 本 郵 便 above and “NIPPON” below value box. Flying dove added below Mount Fuji. Value box is larger. M# with “PF” prefix. TM: SC V/F:      0000 B1. Francotyp “CC”, “CCM” (MV), 1952. Japanese Post inscription across top, M# with “F” prefix at lower left, F#, F##, F1###, F6###. Spacing between TM and frank 6 mm. A. Without vertical lines at right. “JAPAN” in TM B. Without vertical lines at right. “NIPPON” in TM    [Scarce] C. Three vertical lines at right. “JAPAN” in TM D. Three vertical lines at right. “NIPPON” in TM    [Scarce] TM: SC V/F:      000      0.000      ◆0.000 a. Spacing between TM and frank 10 mm. B2. Francotyp “A9000” (MV), 1963. [Scarce] Very similar to Type B1 but the date is much wider. M# with “F” prefix, F9###. A. Without vertical lines at right, “JAPAN” in TM B. Three vertical lines at right, “JAPAN” in TM C. Three vertical lines at right, “NIPPON” in TM TM: SC V/F:      0.000 B3. Francotyp “CM10000” (MV), 1973. Very similar to Type B1 but value figures narrower. Three vertical lines at right. M# with “F” prefix, F10###. A. “JAPAN” in TM B. “NIPPON” in TM TM: SC V/F:      0.000 C1. Hasler “F88” (MV), 1953. Frank frame with notches in the sides. M# with circled “H” prefix below frank. M# with or without dashes at sides. TM: DC with “JAPAN” V/F:      0,000      00,000 a. Spacing between TM and frank wider (16 mm) b. Neither “JAPAN” nor “NIPPON” in the TM. M# H466 (error) D1. Universal “MultiValue” (MV), 1953. [Scarce] Frank with geometric ornaments in the corners. M# with “U” prefix below frank. TM: DC with “JAPAN” V/F:      0000 a. Neither “JAPAN” nor “NIPPON” in the TM. M# U12 (error) E1. Postalia “D2/D3” (MV), 1954. [Scarce] Frank 28-29 mm tall. Without vertical lines at right. M# with “PF” prefix below frank. TM: DC with “JAPAN” V/F:      000      0000 E2. Postalia “D2/D3” (MV), 1967. [Scarce] As Type E1 but smaller, frank 26 mm tall. M# with “PF” prefix below frank. A. “JAPAN” B. “NIPPON” TM: DC with “JAPAN” V/F:      000      0000 E3. Postalia “D2/D3” (MV), 1969. As Types E1 and E2 but smaller still, frank 23-24 mm tall. With three vertical lines at right. M# with “PF” prefix below frank. A. “JAPAN” B. “NIPPON” TM: DC with “JAPAN” V/F:      000      0000 FA1. Hasler “F88” (MV), 1957. [Scarce] Country inscription with chrysanthemum in center. All lines at right of Mount Fuji straight. Value box relatively tall. No lines at right of value box. Country name “JAPAN” V/F:      0,000      00,000      ✳00,000 a. Value figures large:      0,000 FA2. Hasler “F88” (MV), 1966. Similar to Type FA1 but smaller, especially the value box. Central three lines at right of Mount Fuji with curve. Country name “JAPAN”. A. Without vertical lines at right of value box    [Scarce] B. One vertical line at right of value box (shown) C. Three vertical lines at right of value box    [Scarce] V/F:      0,000 FA3. Hasler “F88” (MV), 1969. Similar to Type FA2 with curve in lines at right of Mount Fuji, but without chrysanthemum in center of country inscription. With three vertical lines at right of value box. M# with circled “H” prefix. A. “JAPAN” B. “NIPPON” V/F:      0,000 a. Value figures large:      0000 FA4. Hasler “F88” and “F66” (MV), 1972. Country inscription without chrysanthemum. Lines at right of Mount Fuji straight. Value box with thick frame, smaller than Type FA1 but larger than Types FA2 and 3. M# with circled “H” prefix. Value figures small or large. A. “JAPAN” B. “NIPPON” V/F:      0,000      00000     00,000 FB1. Frama “M/E” (MV), 1969. Country inscription vertical at right with three vertical lines at far right. Five chrysanthemums above the date box. M# below “JAPAN” with prefix “FR” below the date box. A. “JAPAN”    [Scarce] B. “NIPPON”    [Very scarce] V/F:      0000 FC1. Frama “M/E” (MV), 1976. Three vertical lines at right. M# with “FR” prefix below date box. A. “JAPAN” B. “NIPPON” V/F:      0000 FD1. Pitney Bowes “PostPerfect” (digital), 1995. 日 本 郵 便 above “NIPPON” at top above value figures. Under Mount Fuji are one large flower at center and two small ones at left and one at right. The triad (≋) at left in the value figures is a horizontal wave. M# with “PB68” prefix at bottom. TM: straight-line at left V/F:      ≋0000 FD2. Very similar to Type FD1 but without horizontal lines above and below town/date field. Impression made up of fine horizontal lines usually most noticeable in the value figures. The triad (≋) at left in the value figures slants downward. M# with “PB80” prefix at bottom. TM: straight-line at left V/F:      ≋0000 FD3. Pitney Bowes “DM300 (Spark)” (digital). Very similar to Type FD1 but the large flower under Mount Fuji has two smaller flowers on both the left and right sides, and "NIPPON" is larger. Frank is 20mm tall. M# with “PB26” prefix at bottom. TM: straight-line at left V/F:      ≋0000 FD4. As Type FD1 with one small flower at right of the larger flower under Mount Fuji. As Type FD3 with large "NIPPON" but the frank is 23.5 mm tall. M# at bottom, seen with prefix “PB11”, "PB13" and "PB88". Other prefixes may exist. TM: straight-line at right V/F:      00000 G1. Hasler “Mailmaster” (MV), 1979. Three vertical lines at right. Inscribed “NIPPON”. M# with “AA”, “AE”, “AL”, “AM”, “AS”, “HA”, “HE”, “HM” or “HS” prefix. TM: SC V/F:      0,000      00,000 a. With unengraved meter number "HM■■" G2. Neopost (digital), 2012. Similar to type G1 but with several differences including: Smaller country characters and value figures "NIPPON" not flush with bottom of the three bars at right Value figures are raised in relation to the date figures. M# with “NA” prefix. TM: SC V/F:      00, 000 G3. Similar to type G2 but with straight line town mark between bars. M# with “ND” prefix. TM: SL V/F:      00,000 H1. Satas “Federal” (MV), 1960. Country inscription at top. M# with “F” prefix below “SATAS” at bottom. TM: SC with “JAPAN”    [Scarce] V/F:      000      ★00 H2. Satas “Rotary” (MV), 1960. [Scarce] Similar to Type H1 but M# with “R” or “R.T” prefix. TM: SC with “JAPAN” V/F:      ★000 H3. Satas “Guichet” (MV), 1963. [Scarce] Similar to Types H1 and 2 but M# with “S.G” prefix. A. “JAPAN” (Post Office stamp) B. “NIPPON” TM: SC V/F:      ★000 H4. Satas “Vinette” (MV), 1963. Similar to Type H3 but M# with “SV” prefix. A. “JAPAN” (Post Office stamp)    [Scarce] B. “NIPPON” TM: SC V/F:      ★000 H5. Francotyp-Postalia “T-1000” (digital), 1994. Tall, narrow frank with “NIPPON” above M# at bottom. With three vertical bars at right. M# with “PT 0” prefix. TM: SC V/F:      0000 H6. Francotyp-Postalia “T-1000 TSS” (digital), 1998. Frank very similar to Type H5 but now quite as narrow, and the value figures are squarish. With three vertical bars at right. M# with “PT 1” prefix. TM: SC V/F:      0000 I1. Frama “M/E” (MV), 1961. [Scarce] Country inscription at top with circled “〒” in center. Seven small chrysanthemums connected by lines across bottom. M# with “FR” prefix below frank. TM: BIC with “JAPAN” V/F:      000      0000 I2. Frama “M/E” (MV), 1973. [Scarce] Frank open at right with three vertical lines. Three chrysanthemums with connecting lines at bottom right. Country inscription without symbol at center. A. “JAPAN” B. “NIPPON” TM: DC with “JAPAN” V/F:      0000 J1. Neopost “Electronic” (MV), 1988. Small Mount Fuji and waves at top. Three vertical lines at right. “NIPPON” above M# with “RA M” or “RA S” prefix at bottom. TM: SC V/F:      ≋000 Most of these stamps have variable colors, e.g. deep maroon, dark to brick red, and rose to pink. Some have point-of-sale data applied in a shade different from the rest of the design. PO1. National Cash Register “1900” (MV), 1950. Frameless design date at top followed by “JAPANESE POSTAGE”, value line, “PAID”/town name. “PAID” and town name have ornaments at sides. Value line has 3- or 4-digit impression counter number at right. Printed in red shades on pale blue or off-white adhesive label. Without M#. Month usually in letters but occasionally as numeral. V/F:      0000,000 followed by a letter,      000,000 followed by a letter V/F:      0000,000 without letter,      –000,000 followed by a letter,      –000,000 without letter,      00,000 followed by a letter,      00 0000 followed by a letter    [Scarce] V/F:      00,000 without letter V/F:      –00,000 without letter    [Scarce] V/F:      letter preceding 000 00 followed by vertical Roman numeral    [Very scarce] a. Letter in parenthesis at right of town name b. Letter in parenthesis below town name NOTE: The town name greatly influences the value of these stamps. The smaller towns are more in demand than Tokyo and other large cities. PO2. National Cash Register “1925” (MV), 1952. As Type PO1 but date at top above 日 本 郵 便. Value figures and impression counter number at center. Double-line framed shape at bottom containing town name, “JAPAN”, and M# with “N” prefix. Month numeric or in letters. V/F:      00,000 without a letter    [Scarce] V/F:      00,000 followed by a letter,      0000,000 followed by a letter or without a letter    [$15] PO3. National Cash Register “N21” (MV), 1965. Similar to Type PO2 but town mark shape at top with date above value figures at bottom. Inscribed “JAPAN”. Without M#. A. Town mark frame 39 mm wide B. Town mark frame 37 mm wide    [Scarce] V/F:      0,000      00,000 PO4. Anker (MV), 1967. As Type PO3 but date and value figures on same line. Year figures vertical. V/F:      0.000      000.000      oo0.000 a. With impression counter number between date and value figures PO5. Anker (MV), 1971. Mount Fuji and plum blossoms at upper left, 日 本 郵 便 at upper right above town name and “JAPAN”. Date at lower left, and value figures at lower right. A. Year horizontal, without impression counter number B. Year vertical, impression counter number between date and value figures. [Scarce] V/F:      0.000      000.000 NOTE: Size and shape of asterisk and value figures variable. PO6. Anker (MV), 1975. Very similar to Type PO5 but with “通 用 当 日 限 り“ (Valid on date of issue only) added below country name. A. “JAPAN”. Year horizontal, without impression counter number B. “JAPAN”. Year vertical, with impression counter number between date and value figures C. “NIPPON”. Year horizontal, without impression counter number D. “NIPPON”. Year vertical, without impression counter number E. “NIPPON”. Year horizontal, with impression counter number F. “NIPPON”. Year vertical, with impression counter number V/F:      0.000      0.000      000.000 PO7. Postalia “D2/D3” (MV), 1964. Design is similar to Group E frank but with 日 本 郵 便 above and country name below and outside. M# with “PF” prefix. A. “JAPAN”    [Scarce] B. “NIPPON” TM: SC within field of wavy lines. Smaller wavy line field at right of frank. V/F:      0000 V/F:      000 PO8. TEC (MV), 1972. [Scarce] Frameless, horizontal frank with birds amidst leafy branches motif. Printed on plain, white labels. M# 0101 and 0102 with “TEC” prefix. TM: SC V/F:      0000 P09. TEC “Model PT” (MV), 1979. Similar to Types PO5 and 6 but with 4-digit impression counter number at lower left and with date as DD–MM–YY above it and value figures. Inscribed “NIPPON”. V/F:      ★0 to ★00000 NOTE: For Types PO10 through PO15 and all of Group PV, the stamps often include a 2-digit year of the Emperor’s reign as well as the western date. The reign year is usually found between asterisks above the regular date. PO10. Matsushita Electric Company “Model PM” (MV), 1979. [Scarce] Vertical design with two cranes in flight at center. Three horizontal bars at top. Country name “NIPPON”. PO name in English above date box with Japanese characters “通 用 当 日 限 り“ (“Valid on issued date only”) below. V/F:      00000 P011. Matsushita Electric Company / Tokyo Electric Company “Model UE” (MV), 1980. Vertical design with three bars above Mount Fuji and two flowers at top. Date above value figures at bottom. V/F:      ★0 to ★00000 P012. Matsushita Electric Company / Tokyo Electric Company / Terakoa Seiko Company, 1983. Vertical design with characters for Japanese Postage and “NIPPON” at top above boxed value figures, town name, two birds in flight, the characters “通 用 当 日 限 り“ (“Valid on issued date only”), year of the Emperor between asterisks, and the date (YY·MM·DD or DD·MM·YY) at bottom. Frame lines are at the sides of the frank above the dates. V/F:      ★0 to ★00000 a. Printed on salmon paper rather than white NOTE: This Post Office stamp is virtually identical to self-service vending machine stamp Type PV9. PO13. Matsushita Electric Company. As Type PO10 but with three horizontal bars at top. V/F:      ★00 to ★00000 PO14. Matsushita Electric Company (MV). Very similar to Type PO11 but the design is not as tall, most noticeable in the height of the value box. The year of the Emperor is also closer to the value box. V/F:      ★00 to ★00000 PO15. Matsushita Electric Company (MV). Vertical stamp with central design of a water bird with wings spread. Three horizontal bars at top. Value boxed below “NIPPON”. V/F:      ★00 to ★00000 a. Printed on salmon paper rather than white As with Group PO, most of these stamps have variable colors, e.g. deep maroon, dark to brick red, and rose to pink. Most stamps have point-of-sale data applied in a shade different from the rest of the design. PV1. Kokuto Koki Kogyo (MV), 1970. [$250] Horizontal label with underprint design of large arrowhead and Japanese Post symbol. Point-of-sale data applied through an inked ribbon. Adhesive labels only. Meter NIHONBASHI YK-1 only. V/F:      exact denomination without leading zeros PV2. Hokuto Koki Kogyo (MV), 1972. [$200] Similar to Type PV1 but underprint design with flying bird. Meter KAMATA YK-1 only. V/F:      exact denomination without leading zeros PV3. Matsushita Electric Company “Model SS” (MV), 1975. Vertical labels with three bars at top followed by the boxed value figures, town name (Japanese) and “NIPPON”, two flying geese, town name (English), the boxed date, and at bottom the Japanese characters “通 用 当 日 限 り“ (“Valid on issued date only”). A. Date box 5 mm tall. Blank between English town name and date box B. Combination of four letters and/or stars between English town name and date box C. Date box 10-11 mm tall. Blank between English town name and date box V/F:      0000 The letters found in version B indicate added services or special condition, as follows: All stars and no letters means no special services or conditions “E” – express mail “N” – non-standard size “P” – parcel “R” - registered “S” – simplified registered (certified?) a. Commemorative stamp vended at stamp show, inscribed "KOBE-PORTOPIA '81" NOTE: The receipts for these stamps are purple and appear to be photostats (shown at right). PV4. Tokyo Electric Company, 1 March 1990. [Scarce] Similar to Type PO9 but point-of-sale date cruder, applied by dot matrix process. This stamp vended by experimental self-service facility “Intelligent Post”. V/F:      *00 to *000 NOTE: The machine was located in the Sunshine Prince Hotel in Ikebukuro. PV5. Matsushita Electric Company, 1 March 1990. [Scarce] Very similar to Type PV4 but entire frank applied by dot matrix process. The elements are slightly smaller than in Type PV4. This stamp also comes from the experimental “Intelligent Post” facility. V/F:      ★00 to ★000 NOTE: The machine was located in the Shinjyuku Post Office. PV6. Matsushita Electric Company, 1982. Vertical design featuring Kabuki actor with pine tree background. Three horizontal bars at top followed by value figures in white box. The stamp has an overall web-like underprint. Both the date and value figures are in boxes without the underprint. V/F:      0000 PV7. Matsushita Electric Company, 1983. With underprint as with PV6. The value box is between the town name and Kubuki image, and it has a background of fine horizontal lines. The date figures also have a background of fine horizontal lines. V/F range:      *10 to 9990 PV8. Matsushita Electric Company (MV), 1985. Vertical design featuring two knitted balls near top. The stamp has an overall web-like underprint. One machine only, YOTSUYAEKIMAE. V/F:      *10 to 9990 PV9. Matsushita Electric Company / Tokyo Electric Company / Terakoa Seiko Company, 1983. The stamp cataloged as Post Office Type PO12 is indistinguishable from self-service vending machine stamps from the same company). Ornaments in the value figures and flanking the year of the Emperor are 5-pointed stars. V/F:      ★0 to ★00000 PV10. Matsushita Electric Company (digital), 1987. [Scarce] Similar to Type PV9 but date and value figures cruder, applied by a dot matrix process. Ornaments in the value figures and flanking the year of the Emperor have six points including two horizontal. The value figures contain leading zeros. V/F:      00000 PV11. Matsushita Electric Company (digital), 1987. [Scarce] Similar to Type PV10, but the asterisks have eight arms and are taller than wide. Ornaments in the value figures and flanking the year of the Emperor have eight points. Value figures without leading zeros. V/F:      00000 PV12. Matsushita Electric Company (digital), 1987. [Scarce] Very similar to Type PV9, but the value figures are centered rather than right justified. Ornaments in the value figures and flanking the year of the Emperor are 5-pointed stars. Value figures without leading zeros. V/F:      ★0 to ★00000 PV13. Matsushita Electric Company, 1990. [Scarce] Very similar to Type PV10 but the 6-pointed ornaments in the value figures and flanking the year of the Emperor have vertical arms rather than horizontal. Value figures without leading zeros. Date as YY.MM.DD or DD.MM.YY. V/F:      *0 to *00000 PV14. Matsushita Electric Company (digital). Similar to Type PV13 but without year of the Emperor’s reign. Value figures without leading zeros. V/F:      *00 to *00000 Return to main catalog ⇒ International Postage Meter Stamp Catalog Return to top ⇒ Japan
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