COVER N. 431 - JAPAN

Postmark: Tokyo Japan 06.03.2024 

Posted on the 6th March; received on the 26th March 2024

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An FDC from the Land of the Rising Sun, thanks to the good offices of a fellow member of the LCC.  Arigato Ban-No!

I read somewhere on the internet that the "My Journey" stamp series, now on its 9th iteration, try to mirror the point of view of a traveller visiting places in Japan, hence the depiction not only of landmarks from a given destination, but also habits, gastronomy, local products, etc.

For the two 2024 sets, comprising ten 63 Yen and  ten 84 Yen  self-adhesive stamps, both issued in minisheet form on 06MAR2024, the destination chosen for the journey was Shikoku Island, the smallest of the main four islands of the Japanese Archipelago, famous for being the place of a peregrination that takes the pilgrim on an 88 temple tour. 

Both stamps used by Ban-No feature bridge images, that on the 63 Yen stamp being the Iya Kazura Bridge,  while the Seto Oashi Bridge takes centre stage on the  84 Yen stamp. 

The  Iya Kazura Bridge is one of 13 vine suspension bridges that were once used by villagers to cross the Iya river valley . Of these only three survive today.

The Seto Oashi Bridge is in fact a double decked bridge system connecting the  Honshū and Shikoku islands, across five small islands along the way. Inaugurated in 1988, the bridge system has a total lenght of 13,1 km.

further to the First day postmark, depicting some traditional food from the Shikoku rfeghion, I prfesume, the cover carries a regular day postmark, issued at Tokyo.