Ah Japan, the post mark cancel capital of the world. If you are a cancel hound, this is the country for you. Many countries create them, few attain the sheer delicate beauty and whimsy of Japan’s. Here are a few samples from over the years: 

The little snowball bird is one of my favourites. It’s tiny, simple, and perfectly captures the little ball of cuteness. I have a large collection of Japanese post marks for reference purposes, and often go back over them to examine details. I chuckled when I went back to look at the 2025 page and realised I started the article out with cancels as well. I may be an addict. Send post marks to help. 

Let’s see what surprises Japan offers this year. And maybe I’ll start working on a different intro for 2027 now. 

Cheers
Catpaw

January 

Greetings: Simple Designs

1 stamp, sheets of 50
offset 

Designer: Junko Kaibuchi | ン 貝淵 純子

Release date: January 7, 2026

February

Spring Greetings

10 stamps on two sheets, 2 cancels
offset

Sheet one: 
(1) Otter and fish
(2) Mountain
(3) Cat in love
(4) Sleeping soundly
(5) Tea leaves

Sheet two: 
(1) The Mimosa House
(2) The Spring Breeze Shawl
(3) Waking Up
(4) Flowers and Rain
(5) The Night of the Hazy Moon

Designer: Rika Hoshiyama | 星山 理佳 

Release date: February 4, 2026

Retro Day

10 stamps on a sheet, 2 cancels
offset

Stamps – and I have to admit this one kind of hit hard. Retro … sigh. 
(1) Telephone and disposable camera
(2) CRT television and decorations
(3) Boombox and letter
(4) Roller skates
(5) Cassette tape
(6) Fashion
(7) Cuckoo clock
(8) Pudding à la mode
(9) Stationery
(10) Sweet bread

Designer: Ayumi Yoshikawa | 吉川 亜有美

Release date: February 18, 2026

March

My Travel Stamp Series Vol.11

20 stamps on two sheets, 2 cancels
offset

Stamps on sheet one: 
(1) Aqua World Ibaraki Oarai Aquarium
(2) Hitachi Seaside Park 
(3) Fukuroda Falls
(4) Anglerfish Hot Pot
(5) Tomoe Uzuma River and Tsunade Road
(6) Mashiko Pottery
(7) Akagi South Slope Thousand Cherry Trees
(8) Ashikaga Flower Park
(9) Usui Third Bridge (Megane Bridge)
(10) Tomioka Silk Mill

Stamps on sheet two: 
(1) Kusatsu Onsen
(2) Lake Haruna
(3) Yakimanjū (grilled sweet buns)
(4) Kegon Falls
(5) Nikko Toshogu Shrine, Sleeping Cat
(6) Nasu Hachiman Azaleas
(7) Kairakuen Garden
(8) Natto (fermented soybeans)
(9) Kasumigaura Sightseeing Sailing Boat
(10) Tsukuba Space Center

Designer:  Yuji Kusuda | 楠田 祐士 

Release date: March 4, 2026

Invitation to the Stamp Hobby Series Vol. 3

3 stamps on sheet, 2 cancels
offset

Stamps:
(1) Utagawa Hiroshige “Eight Views of the Suburbs of Edo: Koganei Bridge at Sunset”
(2) Katsushika Hokusai “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: Mount Fuji at Gotenyama, Shinagawa, on the Tokaido Road”
(3) Utagawa Hiroshige “Arashiyama, a famous Kyoto landmark, is full of blossoms.”

Margins:
Katsushika Hokusai, “Mount Fuji with Cherry Blossoms”

Designer: Satoshi Maruyama | 丸山 智

Release date: March 11, 2026

April 

Flower Colour Series Vol.6

2 sheets of 10, 2 cancels
offset

Both sheets illustrate the same flowers: 
(1) Carnation
(2) Rose
(3) Magnolia
(4) Nemophila
(5) Blueberry

Designer: Rika Hoshiyama | 星山 理佳 

Release date: April 1, 2026

World Veterinary Association Congress 2026 (Tokyo)

10 stamps on sheet, 2 cancels
offset

Stamps: 
(1) Sheep, Cow
(2) Horse
(3) Red-crowned Crane
(4) Pig, Human
(5) Cow, Human
(6) Cat
(7) Dog
(8) Chicken
(9) Japanese Honeybee
(10) Koi Carp
(Margin) Tokyo Tower, One Health Carbon Gate

The 41st convention theme was One Health for a Better Tomorrow:Veterinary Medicine Holds the Key. 

Designer: 吉川 亜有美 Ayumi Yoshikawa

Release date: April 13, 2026

Stamp Hobby Week 

4 stamps in sheets of 10, 2 cancels
offset

Stamps:  
Scenes are extended through pairs of stamps

(1) “Genji and Yugao” by Suzuki Harunobu  – Mitate Yugao (Parody of the Yugao Chapter of the Tale of Genji)  this set is from diptych created in 1766 
(2) “Beauty in the Kitchen” by Kitagawa Utamaro  – part of an woodblock ink on paper triptych. Created in @1795 during the Edo period.  

Suzuki Harunobu This composition is a mitate (parody) of the Yugao chapter from the Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji), the classic Heian Period epic novel following the complicated life and romances of the ‘Shining Prince’ Genji that inspired endless variations and interpretations in art and literature through the centuries. The title of chapter 4, Yugao (Evening Faces also known as the ‘moonflower’), is so well-known that only an image of the flower, perhaps resting on a folding fan, becomes a direct reference to this sad chapter in the story. Of all of Genji’s many lovers, the most tragic is the reclusive beauty residing in a neglected mansion covered by vines with flowering yugao blossoms. She refuses to tell Genji anything about herself, including her name, so he calls her Yugao, after she has a female servant present Genji’s servant with a blossom on a scented folding fan inscribed with a poem written in beautiful calligraphy. Fascinated, Genji invites the mysterious lady to a remote villa where they consummate their passions. But only hours later, one of Genji’s former lovers, the jealous Lady Rokujo, haunts poor Yugao and quickly takes her life.
https://www.scholten-japanese-art.com/printsV/3011

Kitagawa Utamaro (?–1806) was undoubtedly Japan’s greatest artist of bijinga (pictures of beautiful women) in the ukiyo-e genre, but like many working in ukiyo-e, it took some time for him to establish himself. When he began his career in Edo (now Tokyo), he produced large numbers of pictures of actors in the small hosoban size, around 33 centimeters long by 15 wide. The woodblock printing of the day did not allow artists to follow their own creative paths. Instead, publishers came up with themes that were likely to be a hit, and artists, carvers, and printers worked together to turn these ideas into multicolored prints known as nishiki-e, which were sold in great quantities with tight profit margins.
https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/b11602/

Designer:  玉木 明 Akira Tamaki

Release date: April 20, 2026

60th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and Singapore

2 stamps on sheets of 10, 2 cancels
offset

Stamps: 
(1) Orchid flower – Singapore’s national flower
(2) Cherry blossom flower – Japan’s national flower

 Singapore and Japan have upgraded their bilateral ties, with deeper cooperation planned in a wide range of areas, from artificial intelligence to the green transition.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced on March 18 that the two countries have elevated their ties to a strategic partnership, in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

The strategic partnership will deepen the foundations of the substantive and multifaceted relationship between both countries, and expand cooperation in five forward-looking areas, said a joint statement issued after both leaders and their delegations met at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/spore-japan-upgrade-ties-to-strategic-partnership

Designer:  玉木 明 Akira Tamaki

Release date: April 27, 2026

May

Happy Greetings

20 stamps on two sheets, 2 cancels
offset

This spring’s Happy Greeting theme is Home Parties. Balloon animals and more decorate these stamps. 

Sheet one: 
(1) Moon foil balloon
(2) Flower foil balloon
(3) Two star foil balloons
(4) Heart foil balloon
(5) Star foil balloon

Sheet two: 
(1) Balloon Dog (Green)
(2) Balloon Ribbon
(3) Balloon Dog (Yellow)
(4) Balloon Rabbit
(5) Balloon Bear

Designer: 守屋 絵麻 Ema Moriya

Release date: May 7, 2026

National Land Greening (Ehime Prefecture)

10 stamps on sheet, 1 cancel
offset

Stamps: 
(1) Quercus acutissima – sawtooth oak
(2) Citrus tachibana – tachibana orange
(3) Japanese black pine
(4) Camphor tree
(5) Japanese cedar
(6) Castanopsis sieboldii – evergreen native to Japan
(7) Japanese cypress
(8) Rhododendron parvifolium
(9) Japanese maple
(10) Japanese camellia

You can read more about Japan’s efforts to promote planting of trees throughout the country. https://www.green.or.jp/english/ and there’s an entire site devoted to the sites and scenery of Ehime Prefecture.

Designer: 楠田 祐士 Yuji Kusuda

Release date: May 13, 2026

International Horticultural Exposition 2027 (with donation)

2 stamps on sheets of 10, 2 cancels
offset

The Expo’s mascot this year is Tunku Tunku and the theme is Scenery of the Future for Happiness. Tunku Tunku is a small earth with a big hearts bopping along on legs. 

Stamps: 
1) Official logo
(2) Official mascot character Tunku Tunku

Expo 2027 Yokohama will play a role in proposing solutions to international issues including global environmental challenges and developing future societies. It will present new perspectives, values, and industrial fields, and help reaffirm the importance of natural spaces. Expo 2027 Yokohama will emphasise the principle of circularity inherent to flowers, greenery and agriculture, as well as the value of nurturing plants of all types, how they benefit people at various levels, and the cultural and mental benefits to humankind. It will also ask participants to voice their opinions on the effects of nature on contemporary society, making the Expo a participatory demonstration.

In light of global climate change and the loss of biodiversity, the Expo aims to create a society in which people have a deeper sense of happiness through various initiatives related to its theme.
Plant Expo 2027

Designer: 山田 泰子 Yasuko Yamada

Release date: May  19, 2026