Too Many Stamps????

Maybe Japan issues more stamps than any other country. That is fine for me for now, because I am still in the stage of simply collecting everything, no specialization yet.

But the sheer number of stamps can be overwhelming. Especially the 記念 or anniversary stamps – they really seem endless. And sometimes the events they commemorate seem a bit…trivial.

Here are two of my favorites. The 9th Annual Congress on Edible Mushrooms??? The Kagoshima Int’l Conference on Volcanoes is a bit more understandable. But still, you have to wonder who makes the decision: Hey, let’s make a stamp for the 9th Annual Congress on Edible Mushrooms???

This is not a complaint – I love living in a country so full of stamps. But it is hard keeping up with the endless releases of new stamps.

日本語 hints
overwhelming = 圧倒的, too much
commemorate = 記念する
trivial = small and unimportant, maybe ささいな or ありふれた??
edible = can eat it, 毒性がなくて、食べられる
complaint = 不満、愚痴