Finland's Elias Lönnrot

The souvenir sheet issued in 2002 on this cover from Helsinki commemorates the 200th birth anniversary of Finnish polymath Elias Lönnrot. He is known for authoring the botanical text Flora Fennica in 1860 and Kalavela in 1835: a Finnish national epic featuring a collection of ballads and poems that helped shape Finnish national identity.  The stamp on the left from 2005 commemorates veterans of the Second World War.

Year of the Horse, Okayama Japan

From the Japanese city of Okayama in the Okayama prefecture comes this tidy little cover with one of the two Lunar New Year lottery stamps that was issued by Japan Post in December of 2025. Next to it is a Monsters Inc stamp from a 2013 set featuring Disney characters riding in hot air balloons. 

Year of the Horse, Mariehamn Åland

Åland Post has been issuing lunar new year stamps in this style for the past 12 years which means this is the final stamp in the 12 stamp series. The stamp sheets are designed to present the new year animal with an Åland feel. This sheet was issued in October 2025 for the upcoming year of the horse which starts on February 17.

Haneda International Airport, Tokyo Japan

This is the last landscape postmark I obtained during my trip to Japan. I was flying out of Tokyo's Haneda airport and they just happen to have a post office there. The postmark was applied at the post office in terminal 1 and the eki stamp I found at an information desk in terminal 3. The postcard features a fukutanuki: a ceramic cartoon depiction of a racoon dog known as a tanuki. The statues are said to bring good luck and fortune and they are often placed outside of business establishments for that reason.

Kanazawa!

There are so many post offices here with landscape postmarks but I was only able to visit a few. This was my first time in Kanazawa and we had a wonderful time. Kanazawa sits on the west coast of Japan, on the opposite side of the main island relative to Tokyo. It's not a large city and there are not as many tourists here. It is similar to Kyoto with its traditional neighborhoods and architecture.

The postmark above was from a post office in the train station. It shows images of the Kotoji Lantern in Kenrokuen Garden and the statue Yutaro that stands over the mailbox at the back of the station. The eki stamp on the card came from the information center in the Nagamachi Samuari district.

On the above card is a postmark showing the entrance to the Kanazawa train station. It also appears on the larget eki stamp I found in the station.

And the postmark above was acquired at a post office near Omicho market. It is a large covered food market housing stalls selling fresh fish, meats and produce. It's a good place to go to sample local foods. Lots of seafood. Lots of sushi. The eki stamp on this card came from Kanazawa castle.

I was rather random in matching postmarks, stamps and cards. The staff at the post offices here are absolutely amazing. Friendly,  professional and patient. The postmarks are applied with much care. I wish I had more time to visit more of them.

Kyoto's Fushi-Inari Shrine

I bought this art card at a small shop on the way down from the top of Mount Inari in Kyoto and I had it postmarked at a post office near the train station outside the shrine's main gate. The shrine is famous for its red tori gates that line the pathway leading up the mountain. Although calling it a mountain is kind of generous. It is a big hill though.

Like most of the tourist attractions in Kyoto, Fushimi-Inari is crawling with tourists. Doesn't matter what time of year it is. It is nearly impossible to take photos without someone stepping into your shot. But I found most of the crowd faded once we started our way up the mountain. I figure the tour bus crowds simply don't have the time to make the climb and several others had already taken their instagram photos and had no need to continue. After a bit of stair climbing, at times it felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Hiroshima's Itsukushima Island

Itsukushima island, also known as Miyajima meaning shrine island, is an island just a few minutes ferry ride from Hiroshima. On this island is the UNESCO world heritage Itsukushima Shrine with it's red tori gate that appears to float during high tide. Many deer and tourists roam the island. Lots of tourists.

The postmark which I obtained from the post office on the island, shows the tori gate as seen from the shrine which is built over the water. 

I rarely purchase postcards so it was a little surprising that there were not that many to be found. I expected the selection to be better considering it's Japan and a very popular tourist site. Maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough.

Tokyo Station

Made this while visiting Tokyo Station the other day. The postmark was applied at the central post office located near the station and it shows the old side of the station next to the post office building. The eki stamps on the card are from the station. The top stamp is the traditional Tokyo Station stamp and the bottom stamp features the E5 Hayabusa Shinkansen train.

Greetings from Shizuoka

First stamps from Japan Post for 2026 are these basic greeting stamps. It's an annual issue and this year the stamps feature a forest inspired design. 

TAAF RV Marion Dufresne OP-3 at Kerguelen

Returned from Port-aux-Français via the French research vessel Marion Dufresne during it's third rotation through the French southern territory. The stamp from 2025 depicts the activities of the French national mapping agency: the l'Institut Géographique National (IGN).

Christmas Greetings from Riga

It didn't look like a Christmas stamp until I looked a little closer. It's one stamp from a set of four 
designed by Māris Upenieks and the common design element is a winter glove. And there appears to be a string of Christmas lights running across the stamp. The set was designed to depict a single day of getting ready for Christmas. One stamp in the series is a charity stamp done in collaboration with Latvian Radio 5's Dod peci (give five) charity event where radio DJs take requests in exchange for a 5 euro donation to charitable causes.

The Bread Thief, Japan FDC

This first-day postmarked cover from the Japanese city of Shizuoka features stamps depicting scenes from the Japanese award-winning children's book series Pan Dorobō (The Bread Thief) written by Keiko Shibata. The set of 10 stamps is the ninth in the annual series "The World of Children's Picture Books".