Japanese Military Postcards used in Manchukuo and Manchuria



Introduction Manchukuo 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Airmail Revenues Imprinted Postcards Seals & Labels Savings Postmarks Postage Due Forgeries Reply Coupons Manchurian Local Overprints Contact
	Japanese Military Postcards Japan provided a free postal service for soldiers stationed in Manchukuo from 13th November 1931. Many variations of cards were printed for this service, some of which appear below. The cards are distinguished by four large characters 軍事郵便 reading Military Post, either in a square shape, or aligned vertically. They will also usually have a box for a censors stamps with the characters 検閲 censored. Plain card could be hand stamped and used in the same way if stocks of pre-printed cards ran low. The cards were sent through branches of the South Manchurian Railway Zone Post Offices operating under the Kwantung Communications Bureau based in Dairen, although the service was tightly controlled by the military due to a need for censorship.

	Dove and Helmet design on cream card.	Dove and Helmet design on buff card.


	Hand-stamped Card sent from Harbin	Army Star Design. This example was sent from 1 Air Signal Regiment, 3 Air Army at Chientao to Gumna.





	Above is the front and back of a range of pictorial postcards showing a selection of pastoral scenes. Date unknown. To see further cards from the set click here.



	Japanese Imprinted Postcards and Stamps used in Manchukuo Japanese Imprinted Postcards and ordinary Japanese blank postcards using Japanese stamps were in use from towns such as Darien, in Kwantung Leased Territory (KLT) and Japanese Post Offices in other large towns such as Hsinking and Mukden. The practice of using Japanese Imprinted Postcards and Japanese Stamps ceased in 1937. This was due to Japan’s relinquishment of Japanese civilian extraterritorial rights over Manchukuo, which meant all Japanese Post Offices in Manchukuo (excluding the KLT) were abolished.



	1936 Japanese 1½ sen, Imprinted postcard sent from Hsinking to Japan. The square design in this cancel indicates a New Years Greeting.	1937 Japanese 1½ sen, stamp on a Japanese blank postcard sent from Dairen to Japan. The reason for the stamp being inverted is unclear.



	22nd August 1943 A standard blank Japanese Postcard sent from Hsinking to Japan using a 3f, fourth Regular Issue stamp from Manchukuo.