Japanese Delicacies

We have seen them regularly, always cancelled: the personal stamps from Japan with a Honda vehicle depicted on them. But we never knew exactly the what and how of these issues, until I was searching on a Japanese auction site and came across the stamps in a kind of brochure.
My Japanese isn't great, but because the whole thing looked attractive (the mint stamp had a GoldWing on it), I immediately made a blind bid. And sure enough, I was the winner!

Getting it sent from Japan to the Netherlands still required a lot of doing, but it worked out. Unfortunately, customs and tax also had an eye on my shipment, and a lot had to be paid to the government treasury in the Netherlands so that the whole thing could be delivered to me for the hefty sum of just under €20. But.... I could put it in my album.

Here the brochure, in- and outside, and the stamps:

With the brochure now in my hand, I could start working on the translation of the stamp with the help of Google and try to figure out its purpose. It turned out that from 2016 to 2018, Honda sent its investors a little present containing the two self-adhesive stamps, as a gesture of thanks for their support.
The brochures and stamps were not offered for sale by Honda or the Nippon Post, but only given to the investors.
Of course there are non-philatelists among these funders and they stick them on their mail, but that is why you hardly see them in mint condition.

Knowing that such a brochure also exists for the years 2016 and 2017, I went again to the Japanese auction site to see if these could also be found there. And of course to see if any motorcycles would be visible on them.

And sure enough, in the 2016 one, under the stamp of an NSX car, there is a RC213V-S racing motorcycle on the stamp.

Also in the 2017 brochure there is a motorcycle. Here, under the Civic in race trim, a road bike, the CB 1100 RS.

Next I tried to translate the texts into Dutch using Google Translate. Here is the result, with our own free interpretation here and there. First the 2016 brochure:

With some experimenting, also with another program (Pagano), and comparing with the texts on the other brochures, it seems that it says something like the following:

The front page says "Honda collection 2016 by Bow". Bow is the stage name of Kazuhiro Ikeda, one of Japan's most famous car and motorcycle artists. At the bottom left of the inside is a short profile of him, which reads something like this:

The year of the Dog, Leo, Type A
He has published many books including series such as Car magazine, Car Graphic, Kazi
He likes old cars, motorcycles and yachts

It seems that the text under the title must be translated as:

Original Honda Frame Postage Stamp set

Probably "Frame Stamp" should be understood as personalized stamp.
And at the bottom right of the inside it is noted:

These Frame Stamps can be used on mail

More interesting is the text to the left of the stamps. Loosely translated, it looks something like this:

NSX

Drive through bends to the right and left, go straight.
Accelerating comfortably, the road goes straight towards the horizon,
towards the border between heaven and earth.
NSX
is a super sports car with wings

RC213V-S

I drove through the morning sun this morning
and now rest in the garage next to this guy.
I get up and wipe the dirt from the wheel and fairing
while he is standing on the grass.
RCV213V-S
like a beloved horse

Next the 2017 brochure:

The texts on the front and on the right side of the inside are almost the same as the 2016 brochure.
The text on the left of the inside seems to be translated approximately as follows:

Civic Type R

Great Civic, holder of the record for front-wheel drive
cars on the German circuit. (note: this refers to the Nurbürgring)
This is a great car,
also for a ride with the family.

CB1100 RS

We learned to know each other by driving
to the plateau, the coast and the coffee shop on the corner.
Get to know the new model now,
the CB of the 21st century.

Cover story

Hey, it's finished
This year I have received so much sunlight, wind and rain
that I was able to bear much fruit.
Let's harvest and take it with us.
Everyone waits

Bow.

And finally the 2018 brochure:

The text on the left on the inside seems to be translated approximately as follows:

Honda's endless challenges and evolution over many years.
All that time added up, the Super Cub set an amazing record.

We expressed Honda's unchanging passion
in an image, drawn on a postage stamp.
The CR-V and GoldWing
that have evolved with modern technology still fascinate us.

It was Honda's dream from the start.

This year the drawings were made by Akira Mizorogi. At the bottom right of the inside of the brochure is a profile of him:

Born in 1967 in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture. He has been drawing since he was a child, and now he paints in watercolor street scenes with old cars, race tracks, food, scenes from his travels and people. He also makes paper art and has been active with his own modeling magazine "Sports Cars Modeling" since 1994.

Hans de Kloet
Additions and interpretation of the translations by Paul Essens

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