昭和御婚儀( 不発行)切手 1923 関東大震災により焼失(一部配賦) 1923年(大正12)9月1日、南関東一帯をM7.9(震度8)の大地震が襲った。これにより、木挽町(東京銀座)にあった逓信省切手倉庫が2次災害で類焼し、数十億枚の切手が全て焼失した。その中に、同年11月挙行予定だった皇太子(昭和天皇)ご婚儀切手4種(原版)も含まれていた。ところが、当時の南洋庁(パラオ諸島コロール島所在:現在のパラオ法務局)に既に送られていた僅かな切手があったため、逓信省はこの切手と記念印付絵葉書(パラオ印)を日本に回収して、皇太子殿下に献上し、残りを絵葉書(東京印)に貼付して、皇室関係者等に贈呈した。なお、1.5銭、3銭、8銭、10銭の現物切手が市中に極く一部流通している。また、4種シートは、現在、日本郵政博物館が所蔵している。
Showa Emperor's wedding stamp (not issued)
1923 Burned down due to the Great Kanto Earthquake
On September 1, 1923 (Taisho 12), a large earthquake of M7.9 (seismic intensity 8) struck the southern Kanto area. As a result, the stamp warehouse of the Ministry of Communica- tions in Kobiki-cho (Ginza, Chuo-ku) was burnt down in a secondary disaster, and billions of stamps were all burned down. Among them were four kinds of stamps (original version) for the Crown Prince (Emperor Showa) wedding stamp, which was scheduled to be held in November of the same year. However, there was a small stamp that had already been sent to the South Seas Bureau (located in Palau Islands, now Palau Legal Affairs Bureau) at that time, so the Ministry of Communications collected this stamp and a commemorative postcard (Palau stamp) in Japan. Then, it was presented to His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince, and the rest was attached to a postcard (Tokyo stamp) and presented to the imperial officials. In addition, a small number of in-kind stamps of 1.5 sen, 3 sen, 8 sen, and 10 sen are distributed in the city. The four types of sheets are currently in the possession of the Postal Museum Japan.