First couple on Japanese postage stamps, along with frigate Ertugrul

New Japanese postage stamps feature the Turkish Frigate Ertugrul, which sank off Japan on September 15, 1890, along with a portrait of Turkey's first couple. The voyage of the ship, which sank off the coast of Ooshima Island in a severe typhoon, was planned as a goodwill trip to Japan in response to a Japanese delegation's 1887 visit to Istanbul. The accident left a total of 533 Turkish sailors dead, while 69 of them were rescued by Japanese rescue teams. Published in honor of the Turkish-Japanese friendship, the stamps also feature a portrait of President Abdullah Gul and his wife Hayrunnisa. The stamps' catalogue, called "The Development of the Turkish-Japanese Friendship thanks to the Ertugrul Frigate," was presented yesterday by Tashima Katsumasa, the mayor of Kushimoto, Wakayama, to Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay, on an official visit to Japan.