FDC from Japan／FDC du Japon

Anime - The Rose of Versailles／La Rose de Versailles

The Rose of Versailles (ベルサイユのばら Berusaiyu no Bara), also known as Lady Oscar or La Rose de Versailles, is one of the best-known titles in shōjo manga and a media franchise created by Riyoko Ikeda. It has been adapted into several Takarazuka Revue musicals, as well an anime television series, produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and broadcast by the anime television network Animax and Nippon Television. The show remains incredibly popular in Italy.

The Rose of Versailles focuses on Oscar François de Jarjayes, a girl raised as a man to become her father's successor as leader of the Palace Guards. A brilliant combatant with a strong sense of justice, Oscar is proud of the life she leads, but becomes torn between class loyalty and her desire to help the impoverished as revolution brews among the oppressed lower class. Also important to the story are her conflicting desires to live life as both a militiant and a regular woman as well as her relationships with Marie Antoinette, Count Axel von Fersen, and servant and best friend André Grandier.

It features elements of the yuri genre embodied in the relationship between Oscar and her protégée Rosalie Lamorlière, the secret daughter of the scheming Madame de Polignac, whose admiration for Oscar may be interpreted as either idol worship or romantic love coming from her possible bisexuality. Many of the court ladies also greatly adore Oscar, openly admiring her at parties and become very jealous when she brings female companions to them.

La Rose de Versailles (ベルサイユのばら, Berusaiyu no bara) de Riyoko Ikeda est un manga de type shōjo paru pour la première fois au Japon en 1972. Le monde francophone ayant découvert la série à travers son adaptation animée de 1979, Lady Oscar, ne verra la parution du manga en français qu'en 2002.

Berusaiyu est la translitération de la prononciation japonaise de Versailles. Berusaiyu no bara signifie la - ou les - rose(s) de Versailles.

L'action se situe en France, avant et pendant la Révolution française. Dans la première partie de l'histoire, le personnage principal est la jeune et étourdie Reine de France, Marie-Antoinette, mais plus tard, l'histoire se recentre sur une femme du nom de Oscar François de Jarjayes. Le père d'Oscar, le général de Jarjayes, désespéré de ne pas avoir de fils (il a six filles), et décide d'élever sa plus jeune fille, comme un homme. Il la forme aux arts de l'escrime et de l'équitation. Oscar s'exerce souvent avec son meilleur ami, compagnon et (techniquement) serviteur, André Grandier. André est le petit-fils de sa nourrice et, de ce fait, ils ont passé la plupart de leur temps ensemble dans une amitié harmonieuse; qui, près de la fin de l'histoire, se change en amour. Oscar est le commandant de la garde royale et responsable de la sécurité de Marie-Antoinette, ainsi que du reste de la famille royale. L'histoire tourne autour de la prise de conscience grandissante d'Oscar sur la manière dont la France est gouvernée, et sur le sort des pauvres. Un autre point important de l'histoire, est l'amour entre Marie Antoinette et le comte suédois Hans Axel de Fersen. Leur relation fait l'objet de rumeurs à travers toute la France, mettant en danger la réputation de la Reine et conduit Oscar à demander au comte de quitter le pays. Le comte décide alors de partir et de s'inscrire à la guerre d'indépendance en Amérique ; Marie-Antoinette se laisse aller au désespoir. Elle commence à dépenser de l'argent en bijoux et vêtements coûteux, assiste à des bals tous les soirs, dans le but de se détourner de la nostalgie des moments passés avec le seul homme qu'elle ait jamais aimé. Cette situation pèse encore plus lourd sur les contribuables français et la France s'enlise dans la pauvreté en raison du gaspillage de l'argent par Marie-Antoinette. Surviennent ensuite l'affaire du collier et l'apparition de la comtesse de Polignac qui aggravent la haine des Français envers leur Reine. Le 14 juillet 1789, c'est la prise de la Bastille : la foule se révolte, mais manque de stratégie à l'avantage de l'armée et devient une cible facile pour les tirs de canons. Toutefois, Oscar et le régiment des Gardes Françaises qu'elle commande alors arrivent pour aider à organiser les insurgés. Au cours de la prise de la Bastille, Oscar est tuée, mais la Bastille tombe finalement, frappant symboliquement la monarchie française. Une fois la Bastille prise, les révolutionnaires font irruption dans le Palais à la recherche de Marie-Antoinette et de sa famille. Un grand nombre de miliciens sont tués et la famille royale est faite prisonnière. Un long procès commence alors pour Marie-Antoinette et Louis XVI, mais les deux sont finalement déclarés coupables et guillotinés.

New Issue: Owls of Taiwan／Les nouveautés: Owls de Taiwan

Owls (Order Strigiformes) are known as “cat head hawks” in Chinese because their flat faces give them a catlike appearance. Most owls are nocturnal and prey on insects, small birds and mammals. Currently, there are 12 species of owls in Taiwan, all of which are listed as protected species. To increase public understanding and raise awareness about the issues of wildlife conservation, Chunghwa Post has planned a set of four stamps featuring owls of Taiwan. The designs follow: 

1. Asio otus (TWD5): About 35 to 40 centimeters long, it has a light yellowish brown facial disc and long ear-tufts. Its upperparts are grayish white and light yellowish brown with vertical blackish brown streaks. Its belly is yellowish brown to creamy white in color, with dark brown vertical streaks and fine horizontal bars. This rarely seen migratory bird overwinters in Taiwan. It prefers thin broad-leaved and coniferous forests.

2. Otus sunia (TWD5): About 15 to 18 centimeters in length, its inconspicuous facial disc is dark brown with a touch of mottled gray. It has ear-tufts. Its upperparts are largely dark brown with fine black vertical streaks. Its foreneck and breast are light yellowish brown with subtle dark brown vertical streaks and fine horizontal bars. There are two types—one reddish and the other grayish brown. A transient bird species in Taiwan, it only occasionally winters.

3. Strix aluco (TWD10): About 35 to 40 centimeters long, its facial disc has a prominent black ring, giving its face the appearance of a halved apple. It has no ear-tuft. Its crown and hindneck are dark brown and mottled with black spots. Its underparts are yellowish brown with prominent blackish brown vertical streaks and fine horizontal bars. Mainly found in mid- to high-elevation broad-leaved or coniferous forests, it is especially fond of higher elevation coniferous forests.

4. Glaucidium brodiei (TWD25): About 15 centimeters in length, its head is small and rounded with no ear-tuft. Its upperparts are brown and its crown is a bit grayer with small white spots and larger creamy yellow spots. Its belly is white, with irregular dark brown vertical streaks along the sides. It can often be found resting in open woodlands or the forest’s edge. It is one of a few owls that are active both during the day and at night.

FDC from North Korea／FDC de la Corée du Nord

Chollima

Chollima or Chonma is the Korean name for a mythical horse. Its name roughly means "thousand-mile horse", is often portrayed as a winged horse and several such statues are found in the North Korean capital Pyongyang. It is also the nickname of the North Korean national football team. The Chollima Movement was also named after the creature.

The Chollima Movement was a state-sponsored movement in North Korea, analogous to the Chinese Great Leap Forward, intended to promote rapid economic development. It was launched in 1956. North Korea intensified the work-harder campaign by launching the "three-revolution movement" in 1973. As in other countries, the state planning mechanism allowed for the total utilization of resources, hence resulting in rapid industrialization. However, after some time, the movement failed to continue to achieve the same results, because the capacity of the labour supply was fully taken up, whilst technology and technique were still lacking.

Note: D. P. R. of Korea post restart international registered mail after two years of disruption.

cover from Guyana／enveloppe du Guyana

Cover from Guyana. Used "Lunar New Year 2011- Year of Rabbit S/S", which issued at 2011.
Stamp at left is "This mail is pick up from Normal mail." in Chinese.

New Issue: Alpine Flowers Postage Stamps

Taiwan is a mountainous island, with more than 200 mountains above 3,000 meters. With the wide range of vertical climatic zones on these mountains—from tropical and subtropical to temperate and cold—come some very diverse forests. Alpine plants grow in areas 3,000 meters above sea level. Constantly exposed to strong ultraviolet radiation, the blooms of these plants are brilliantly colorful. To introduce the beauty of Taiwan’s alpine flowers, Chunghwa Post is issuing a set of four stamps on these flowers. The designs follow:
1. Gentiana scabrida var. punctulata (NT$5): The plant can be found in open meadows and gravelly slopes in high elevation areas of the Central Mountain Range. Each branch typically produces one or two (and occasionally three) terminal flowers. The blooms have yellow campanulate calyx and corolla, with black spots at the base of the petals. Though small, when a colony of these colorful exquisite flowers is in full bloom, the sight is simply breathtaking.
2. Euphrasia transmorrisonensis (NT$5): The plant can be found at high elevations. Its Chinese name literally means “millet grass,” either because its small seeds resemble millet or the two yellow marks on the flower’s lip resemble millet. Its flowers are arranged in racemes, with very short pedicels. Each of its tiny delicate white flowers has four tubular or campanulate sepals and a smidgen of yellow on its corolla.
3. Clematis montana (NT$10): The plant can be found creeping in meadows or scrambling over shrubs on the sunny side of mountains at high elevations. The elegant white flower’s four large petal-like surfaces are actually its white sepals. The pale yellow filaments in the center of its blossoms are its stamen and pistil.
4. Cypripedium formosanum (NT$10): The plant can be found in moist forests on high elevation mountains. Its flowers are borne singly. The ovate lanceolate upper sepals of this showy flower are shell pink with pink veins. Bees enter through the opening of its bulging pouch-shaped labellum to carry out the task of pollination. In Chinese, the plant is nicknamed “umbrella” because its flower is shaped like one. And because its labellum resembles a slipper, the plant is also called Japanese lady’s slipper and Formosa lady’s slipper.

FDC from Israel／FDC de l'Israël

ATM - CHRISTMAS／NOËL

FDC from Israel／FDC de l'Israël

ATM - Knesset

The Knesset (Hebrew: הַכְּנֶסֶת‎ Arabic: الكنيست‎) is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.

The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset enacts laws, elects the president and prime minister (although he or she is ceremonially appointed by the President), supervises the work of the government, reserves the power to remove the President of the State and the State Comptroller from office and to dissolve itself and call new elections.

The Knesset has de jure parliamentary supremacy and can pass any law by a simple majority, even one that might arguably conflict with the Basic Laws of Israel, unless the basic law includes specific conditions for its modification; in accordance with a plan adopted in 1950, the Basic Laws have themselves been adopted (and occasionally amended) over the course of the years by the Knesset, acting in its capacity as a Constituent Assembly.

In addition to the absence of a formal constitution, and with no Basic Law thus far being adopted which formally grants a power of judicial review to the judiciary, the Supreme Court of Israel has in recent years asserted its authority, when sitting as the High Court of Justice, to invalidate provisions of Knesset laws it has found to be inconsistent with a Basic Law.The Knesset is guarded by the Knesset Guard.

The size of the Knesset, currently at 120 members, has often been a source of cause for proposed reforms. In 1996, then-Justice Minister Yossi Beilin backed the ultimately unsuccessful institution of the so-called "Norwegian law", which would require appointed members of the cabinet to resign their seats in the Knesset and allow other members of their parties to take their positions while they serve in the cabinet; this would have resulted in more active members of the legislature being present in regular sessions and committee meetings. This proposed law has also been favored by other politicians, including Yitzhak Levy (who has backed the raising of total seats to 150) and current prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

FDC from Japan／FDC du Japon

Anime - One Piece

One Piece (ワンピース Wan Pīsu) is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, that has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997. The individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 61st volume released as of February 2011. In 2010, Shueisha announced that they sold over 200 million volumes of One Piece manga so far; volume 61 set a new record for the highest initial print run of any book in Japan in history with 3.8 million copies (the previous record belonging to volume 60 with 3.4 million copies). Volume 60 is the first book to sell over two million copies in its opening week on Japan's Oricon book rankings. One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a 17-year-old boy who gains elastic abilities after inadvertently eating the gum gum fruit, one of the mystical devil fruits, and his diverse crew of pirates, named the Straw Hats. Luffy explores the ocean in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as the One Piece and to become the next Pirate King. On his journey, Luffy battles a wide variety of villains and makes several friends.

The series has been adapted into an original video animation (OVA) produced by Production I.G in 1998, and an anime series produced by Toei Animation, which premiered in Japan in 1999. Since then, the still ongoing series has aired more than four hundred episodes. Additionally, Toei has developed ten animated feature films, an OVA, and five television specials. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising such as a trading card game, and a large number of video games.

The manga series was licensed for an English language release in North America by Viz Media, in the United Kingdom by Gollancz Manga, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. The anime series was licensed by Funimation Entertainment for an English language release worldwide, although the series has been dubbed previously by 4Kids Entertainment.

Since its release, One Piece has become one of the most popular manga series of all time in both Japan and North America and is the highest-selling manga in the whole history of Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan. It enjoys a high readership, with more than 202 million volumes of the series sold by 2011. Reviewers have praised the art, characterization, and humor of the story.

One Piece (ワンピース, Wanpīsu) est un manga, qui est ensuite adapté en anime et en jeux video, de type shōnen créé par Eiichirō Oda.

One Piece se focalise sur les aventures d'une bande de pirates menée par le capitaine Monkey D. Luffy dont le rêve est d'obtenir le One Piece – un fabuleux trésor qui appartenait au défunt seigneur pirate Gol D. Roger (ou Gold Roger) – afin de devenir à son tour le seigneur des pirates.

Le manga est toujours en cours de publication au Japon. Les chapitres sont prépubliés dans le magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump et regroupés en tomes aux éditions Shūeisha depuis 1997. La série télévisée va bientôt avoisiner les 500 épisodes. Le manga, est publié en France par Glénat, et la série est actuellement diffusée en France sur Direct Star et MCM.

Kana Home Video a acquis une licence pour éditer les 325 premiers épisodes de l'anime en français.

FDC from Poland／FDC de la Pologne

Christmas／Noël

FDC from Israel／FDC de l'Israël

The Israeli Flag ／Le Drapeau israélien

The flag of Israel (Hebrew: דגל ישראל, Degel Yisrael, Arabic: علم إسرائيل) was adopted on October 28, 1948, five months after the country's establishment. It depicts a blue Star of David on a white background, between two horizontal blue stripes. The blue colour is mandated only as "dark sky-blue", and varies from flag to flag, ranging from a hue of pure blue, sometimes shaded almost as dark as navy blue, to hues about 75% toward pure cyan and shades as light as very light blue. The flag was designed for the Zionist Movement in 1891. The basic design recalls the Tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, which is white with blue stripes. The hexagram in the centre is the Magen David ("shield of David"). It became a Jewish symbol starting in late medieval Prague, and was adopted by the First Zionist Congress in 1897.
In 2007, an Israeli flag measuring 660 by 100 metres and weighing 5.2 tonnes was unfurled near the ancient Jewish fortress of Masada, breaking the world record for the largest flag.

Le drapeau d'Israël (en hébreu : דגל ישראל, en arabe : علم إسرائيل) est le drapeau national de l'État d'Israël. Il a été adopté par le mouvement sioniste au XIXe siècle et repris lors de la création de l'État en 1948. Il comporte en son centre l'étoile de David, ou « Maguen David » (de l'hébreu littéralement « Bouclier de David »).

Les proportions du drapeau, ses couleurs (blanc et bleu) et les deux bandes horizontales évoquent le talith, châle de prière juif.