Japan 200-201

     The two high value stamps of a four stamp set commemorating the 50th anniversary of Japan joining the Universal Postal Union issued in 1927 are map stamps with the same design.
     William Horney (“Miniature Maps of the World,” Weekly Philatelic Gossip vol. 46, no. 12, May 22, 1948, p. 369.) describes the stamp this way: “This excellent map of the world on the Sanson-Flamsteed or sinusoidal projection centered on Japan... (italics mine).” Walter Klinefelter (“The World in One’s VestPocket: An Atlas on Postal Paper...,” Scott’s Monthly Journal September 1943, p. 207, describes it more accurately as follows: “Mollweide’s elliptical equal-area projection was employed by Japan in 1927 for an all-inclusive map design which is without benefit of parallels and meridians.”
     In fact the projection is the Mollweide projection in which all meridians but the central on are elliptical arcs. Unlike the Sanson-Flamsteed which crowds the polar areas the Mollweide opens them up. The map is centered on Japan and includes a carrier pigeon with a letter in its beak.