James Grayson – East Asia and more

James is a general collector but has specialised interests in East Asia - China (all periods including Manchukuo, and Taiwan), Korea (North and South), Japan, Mongolia and Vietnam. 
 

Another collecting interest is 'first issues' stamps which are issued for the first time by a postal authority.  The main interest is in the design of the stamp itself, how does the 'state' project itself to its own people and the world? He looks at four types of ‘states’ – Existing States, Post-colonial States,  Unilaterally Independent States, and Quasi Independent States.
 

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022,  he has been collecting Ukrainian stamps looking at the themes and designs on these stamps and comparing them with Russian stamps from the same period.