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Mixed Franking Cover with both Japanese and U.S. Stamps

Sent on March 10, 1946 from APO 500
(General MacArthur's Headquarters in Occupied Japan)
by well-known publisher, Charles E. Tuttle

A Japanese March 10, 1946 mixed franking cover with Japanese and American stamps. This cover is rare as it was sent by then Capt. Charles E. Tuttle, of the advance echelon staff of General MacArthur's occupation forces, APO 500 HDQ SCAP (headquarters, Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP)). Reasonable offers will be considered.

Late 1945 postwar, Gen. Macarthur assigned Capt. Tuttle to revive the Japanese printing industry. Tuttle actively promoted menko cards (both sports and non-sports) to teach the Japanese the English language and the Americans the Japanese language.. In 1948, after his military service, Tuttle remained in Japan and founded the Charles E. Tuttle Publishing in Tokyo.

Later, UNESCO called Tuttle: "the most active publisher of books teaching Japanese to the English-speaking world, and English to the Japanese-speaking world."

This mixed franking cover carries two mailing rates: (1) the internal, domestic Japanese postage rate of 236 sen (¥ 2.36) and (2) the international U.S. airmail rate of 6¢. The Japanese stamps are cancelled "21.3.9" (Showa 21st Year (1946), March 9th). The U.S. airmail stamp is cancelled the next day, March 10, 1946 by U.S. Army Postal Service 7 BCO. The letter was sent to Tuttle's hometown, Rutland, Vermont.

Capt. Tuttle arrived in Tokyo in October 1945, expecting to take charge of the library of the Diet of Japan (per the Orders given him before leaving for Japan). On arrival, Tuttle find that General Douglas MacArthur's staff had changed his assignment. He spent the next two years reviving the Japanese printing industry. In so doing, Tuttle vividly advanced an understanding of the two countries for one another.

Tuttle promoted Japanese - English translations on menko cards (both sports and non-sports trading cards) as the best way to reach a large portion of the Japanese population (particularly the youth) to learn more about the occupying Americans who needed to work with and understand the Japanese. Tuttle introduced English words into the Japanese language to promote communications between the occupiers and the occupied. Before the 1950s, hundreds of millions of these menko cards were sold in "mom and pop" stores throughout Japan and generated needed cash for the indigenous people to survive in collapsed economy of post-war Japan. In doing so, he helped Japanese printers develop the wherewithal to replace war damaged and/or obsolete printing equipment and remade the printing industry in Japan. The use of these increasingly more popular menko cards not only rekindled the games of Japanese youth, but provided for a sublimation of the waring spirit to more pacifistic intent.

In 1947, Tuttle (1915-1993) met Reiko Chiba (1916-2006), who belonged to a wealthy Japanese family from Hokkaidō. The two were married in 1951. When his Military Service was over in 1948, Tuttle remained in Japan, founding the Charles E. Tuttle Publishing (now Tuttle Publishing) in Tokyo, with the mission to publish "books to span the East and West." Charles E. Tuttle Publishing became only the 31st corporation approved by the occupying administration. In its first year of operation, it imported and distributed US paperback publications to the occupying forces. The next year, it released its first publication. In 1951, the company began an intensive publishing program, producing English translations of contemporary Japanese literature, dictionaries of Japanese and other Asian languages, books on Japanese art and culture, and books on Japanese martial arts. Notably, many of these books on Asian martial arts were the first widely read publications on those subjects in the English language.

In 1971, the Association of American Publishers named Tuttle as its Publisher of the Year. In June 1978, he and his nephew, Tom Mori, founded the Tuttle-Mori Agency (now Japan's largest literary agency). In 1983, the Japanese government awarded him the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd Class (Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon), for his contributions to the advancement of Japanese–American understanding. According to UNESCO (2002, 2007), Tuttle Publishing is the most active publisher of books teaching Japanese to the English-speaking world, and English to the Japanese-speaking world. The company has also published books on Tagalog, more than 40 products that teach Chinese, 20 that teach Korean, 20 for Indonesian, and numerous products on other Asian languages such as Burmese, Cambodian, Lao, Malay, Thai, and Vietnamese. It published its first Arabic phrasebook in 2004, and, in 2009, its first introduction to Modern Standard Hindi. Pictures are of the actual mixed franking cover being offered.

Free local pickup at a mutually agreeable time, or we ship by U.S. Postal Service with USPS Tracking by close of next postal business day from payment. Shipping includes full value insurance. We can often combine our other items purchased the same day into a single package with this lot to save you shipping costs.

NOTICE: Since insurance covers only the goods but not the costs of shipping them, the buyer agrees that once we have proof of delivery of the package to the post office (which is usually the postal receipt we receive from the postal window clerk at the time of mailing), that if the package or its contents is lost in the mails and not delivered or is damaged in shipping that any refund is limited to the purchase price and any sales tax (if applicable) and does not include a refund of the shipping or insurance. For international buyers, we label our customs tags as "merchandise" and you are responsible for all customs, duties or other import fees into your country.