Japan
Japanese stamps often appear in bag lots of Chinese and/or Korean stamps. The confusion is understandable. Many of the written characters used in Japan are taken directly from Chinese characters. To the casual observer Korean characters look somewhat like Chinese or Japanese characters. However there are a few things to look for which help to separate stamps from the three countries.
- Many stamps issued by Japan have the stylized chrysthanemum, often centred at the top.
- The currency used in Japan is the yen, often symbolized by a capital "Y".
- Early issues had currency in "sen", which are like cents.
- Korea uses an entirely different set of characters for their language.
- South Korean stamps often have a yin-yang symbol.
- South Korean stamps often have the letters CH on them.
- North Korean stamps often have DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) on them.
Stamps East is the online Canadian source for stamps and other philatelic items from the People's Republic of China (China, PRC), the Republic of China (Taiwan, ROC), and other stamp issuing jurisdictions in Asia particularly East Asia.