Ryukyu Islands

The Ryukyu Islands, or 琉球諸島, or the Ryukyus, are a chain of islands stretching from Japan's southernmost tip to Taiwan.

As part of Japan, it used Japanese stamps until the end of World War II, when the US occupied the islands as a separate entity from the rest of Japan. Several local overprints were produced at that time. In 1948, the US administration began issuing stamps for the Ryukyus. Oddly, some issues over the years were only inscribed in kanji where most had bilingual names.

In May 1972 the Ryukyus reverted to Japan and once again use their stamps.

 File:Ryukyus 50s.jpg|50 sen values from the first non-local issue. The left stamp is from the first printing (1948), the right from the second printing (1949); compare paper color and perfs. File:Ryukyus telephone.jpg|One of the issues without RYUKYUS in the design (1956). File:Ryukyus airmail.jpg|20 yen airmail of 1957. 

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