- Title: JAPAN: PERSONALISED PHOTO-STAMPS GO ON SALE IN TOKYO
- Date: 1st August 2001
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (AUGUST 1, 2001) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY *) SV: PEOPLE WALKING INTO BOOTHS TO TAKE DIGITAL PICTURES FOR USE IN MAKING STAMPS MV/SCU/SV: YOUNG WOMAN HAVING PICTURE TAKEN (3 SHOTS) SV/CU: PHOTOGRAPH BEING EDITED ON A COMPUTER (2 SHOTS) SV: ELDERLY MAN HAVING HIS PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN MV/SV: FAMILY WATCHING PHOTOGRAPH ON COMPUTER (2 SHOTS) SV: (SOUNDB
- Embargoed: 16th August 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City:
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Business,Communications,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA1K5T0D7G3J62CT1ELVDZF034P
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: In what could mark the start of a new trend in this photograph-mad nation, Japanese are lining up to go postal, literally.
Vanity postage stamps that feature personal photographs went on sale in Japan on Wednesday (August 1) as part of an international postage stamp exhibition.
The customer's photo is taken with a digital camera and then printed on stamp sheets, a process that takes about thirty minutes.
Sold in a sheet of 10 stamps for 1,100 yen ($8.80), little more than the cost of lunch in Tokyo, each stamp features a different scene from a traditional ukiyo-e Japanese print along with the photo.
The stamps can be used to mail a letter, and postal officials hope they will help promote interest in letter-writing in the Internet age.
"Certainly e-mail is a useful method of communication, but letters are fun in a different way. We want to show young people that letters can be fun too. We'd like to create many enjoyable products like this more and more," said post official Hatsumi Shimizi.
While similar stampsheets debuted in Australia in 1999, and are now sold in some 12 nations and territories, Japan's fondness for commemorative photos, and the photo stickers known as "Print Club," is likely to make them especially popular here.
Indeed, even though officials had prepared 1,000 sheets, they were sold out in less than 30 minutes.
"We take a lot of photographs of children. I want to use this when I send pictures of the kids to my relatives." said Misao Itaya, who left his home at four and arrived the venue at six in the morning with his family.
"I heard it's very rare occasion. It's really surprising that I got stamps with my picture. So I got up very early and got here early morning." Misako Tasaka, 60, who came from Hiroshima, western Japan.
"I love it. I love Kabuki theatre and now I'm with Kabuki," said Charles Verge, president of the royal philatelic society of Canada.
Although the stamps are currently only available as a special service during the postage stamp exhibition, which began on Wednesday and runs a week, postal officials said they may start selling them on a regular basis sometime in the future. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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