Gifts Of Friendship - Us/Japan Joint Issue

The US and China Joint issues of 1994,as far as appreciation, have not fair-ed well at all in more than 20 years. They were/are all easy to obtain. At the time, USPS sold the 2 different full sheets of Chinese issued crane sheets(each a different denomination) as well as the US single sheet with 2 different crane designs on one sheet. I think Japan/US is a more unique issue because of our special relationship as well the cherry blossom theme which is celebrated each year in Washington, DC and all over the news annually. I arrived in DC on April 13th when they were in full blossom. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world were there - especially Japanese -beautiful annual event. Yes, the USPS really could have had more thought and anticipated the demand as well as issued full sheets of the Japan issues rather than just 1/2s.The full sheets are just beautiful. I have been told USPS only issued 1/2 sheets because the cachet makers of FDC complained they would have to purchase whole sheets to get the 4 "main" stamps on left side that matched the US issues and waste the other 8 on the right side. The cherry blossoms are have fallen now but the dogwoods are still full and beautiful as ever.

I was able to get one of the 10,000 limited edition Japan Post "Gifts of Dogwwod trees" FDC on ebay – only 4 have appeard so far and were all sold, averaging $37 or about 2 1/2 to 3 times face. They are beautifulily done and worth having. Again, I think both Japan Post and USPS missed the mark on handlling such an important joint issue. The Cherry Blossoms are a big deal in Washington DC and every year there is a lot of media coverage. I was there on the 12th of May when there were in full bloom and thousands upon thousands of people were there – many Japanese. The 1/2 Japan sheets the USPS is selling does not show the full beauty of the full sheet and the Japan FDC it is selling makes no sense. The 1/2 sheet is placed in the middle of an envelope and does not allow for any art to be done on the usual left side and no way compares with the wonderful Japan Post FDC version. The Japan Post full sheet is also very beautiful & worth having and seems to be continually available on ebay at about twice face.

I just received a set of the Friendship Issue, USA/Japan from Stamp Fulfillment and I must say that they are nicely done and a very attractive addition to my collection. One note to the USPS issue; there will only be 2-stamp issued by the USPS that replicate the design of the Japanese issue. The S/S has 12 USA Forever Stamps of which only 2-replicate the Japanese design. (The Japan issue replicates the USPS issues. I guess my question (not concern) is may the USPS could have issued a 20 sheet configuration with 5-ea of the designs (5 blocks of 4, [or maybe a 16 sheet w/4 blocks of 4])? The 2-Japan replicates will certainly become a rarity in used (or individual mint).