The International Society for Japanese Philately was founded in Canada in 1945.
Whether your philatelic interest in Japan or related areas is recent or of long standing, and whether it is general or specialized, we think you will find membership in the ISJP beneficial and enjoyable, for reasons discussed below. It is one of the worlds largest specialist societies, with members in about thirty nations, including at least one nation on every continent.
Japan is an interesting and important country, and its stamps, postal markings, and postal stationery are well-designed and well-produced. Collectors are also attracted to Japanese philately because the possible fields of collecting are so numerous and varied. For example: classic regular issues, modern regular issues, special issues, topicals, perforation varieties, printing varieties, paper varieties, postal stationery, postal markings, covers, postal history, specimen overprints, revenues and forgeries.
Some ISJP members collect only one or a few of these; others collect most or all of them. Some collect material from all parts of the Japanese empire; other collect only Japan proper, or only Manchoukuo or Ryukyu Islands or one or more Japanese occupied areas in China or Southeast Asia. Some ISJP members are just starting a Japanese collection, others have had many years of experience in the Japanese field, and still others are somewhere in between. Whether a members interests are general or specialized, the ISJPs objective is to provide (at low cost) useful information not available elsewhere.
When the Society was organized in 1945, it had only three members. Since then it has grown to be one of the worlds largest single-nation specialist societies, passing the 1,000-member mark in 1968. Because the unit cost of printing decreases as the quantity increases, a large society can publish a large magazine at a modest price, with room for greater variety of articles.
On the other hand, the ISJP is a non-profit organization with no paid employees. Except for printing, the ISJPs work is done entirely by unpaid volunteers in their spare time. This is why issues of Japanese Philately cannot be published on a precise rigid schedule like that of a general philatelic magazine blessed with a full-time salaried editorial and clerical staff. We try to work in an efficient and professional manner but we are not a business and could not survive if we had to pay for the long hours of service that are donated to the Society. The ISJP has been very fortunate over the years in having so many members willing to contribute their time and share their knowledge with others.
The Society encourages formation of autonomous regional chapters which do hold regular meetings and sponsor or take part in exhibitions. Currently, we have active chapters in London (United Kingdom), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Washington DC (USA).
Since ISJP members are spread over the world, with some on every continent, it is not practical to hold general meetings or to sponsor exhibitions. A membership list is published approximately annually; members can choose not to be listed by notifying the Secretary.