Japanese Peace Bell
There are two stamps near the top of this album page that depict the Japanese Peace Bell, a Budhist temple bell. It’s located in the Japanese garden at the United Nations headquarters in New York. This bell is rung ceremonially twice a year: it’s rung, usually by the Secretary General, at a ceremony for the International Day of Peace at the start of the general assembley; and again in March on Earth Day.
In 1951, a member of the Japanese delegation, Chiyoji Nakagawa came up with the idea of making the bell. For the metals he asked U.N. delegates to donate coins and other items containing copper, brass, and other suitable metals to be melted down for making the bell. He recieved coins, badges, bullets, and other items from U.N. representatives from over sixty countries, including gold coins from the Pope and the Vatican. It wasn’t enough, though, so Nakagawa traveled the world, collecting more from the general public. When he had enough, the bell was cast.
Note
Although the bell had been at the U.N. in New York for a few years, when I visited as a kid in 1975, I didn’t see it. There’s so much we miss and don’t appreciate as children. It’s often said that education is wasted on the young. There’s some truth to that.
Contains 11 spots: own 11 – 11 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed Jun 10, 2025
Stamp Details
The table below lists information about the stamps shown on this page of Lighthouse’s stamp album. For more details about a particular stamp, click on its description. That will take you to the related web page of Colnect.
spot |
own |
catalog |
subject |
description |
comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
✓ |
205 |
6c (mar 1970) |
|||
✓ |
203 |
6c (mar 1970) |
|||
✓ |
206 |
13c (mar 1970) |
|||
✓ |
204 |
25c (mar 1970) |
United Nations Anniversary
✓ |
209 |
6c (jun 1970) |
|||
✓ |
211 |
25c (jun 1970) |
|||
✓ |
210 |
13c (jun 1970) |
|||
✓ |
207 |
6c (may 1970) |
|||
✓ |
208 |
13c (may 1970) |
|||
✓ |
213 |
6c (nov 1970) |
|||
✓ |
214 |
13c (nov 1970) |
Footnotes
Spot refers to the postion of the stamp on the album page (e.g., 3.2 indicates row 3, position 2).
Amt. is an abbreviation for the face amount of the stamp.
Own indicates the stamp status: ✓ for unused; ✗ for used or canceled; ⭑ signifies I ordered one; ; ✨ indicates it was bought recently; ✠ means an auction bid is pending; and ◎ is used, and it costs too much for unused.
To search by catalog number, go to the search box and enter it in the catalog number box. However, it’s a bit broken; I need to fix it.
