[Hugh]

I bought this from Mark at the last KSC meeting. It looked like it might be fun to analyze and Graham and I were curious about the dates on the cancels. 

I've now had a chance to give it a good look. It's a Shōwa-era cover and was sent from Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture to the Canadian Pacific Steamship Empress of Asia in Nagasaki harbour. 

   
   

The receiving two-ring CDS is dated April 1, 1938 [13.4.1, Shōwa (昭和天皇) 13 = 1938, the 13th year of Hirohito's reign (December 25, 1926 to January 7, 1989). It was processed in the afternoon ... 午後 0–4 [noon to 4PM]. The text is only a partial and muddy, my guess is 金沢中局 [Kanazawa Central Post Office]. This is supported by the return address on the back flap which reads, 14 Nakatakajo, Kanazawa.

   

It is tied to three SG 320 (4s, Green) Admiral Tōgō (東郷平八郎) stamps issued in 1937. The 12 sen franking was the domestic letter rate for a letter weighing more than 40g.

It was addressed in English and Japanese.

The Rev. Mr. John Stinson
Empress of Asia
Nagasaki

長崎市加奈多艦太平洋汽船会社の
エムプレス・アプ、エジア内
[In Nagasaki City, within the Empress of Asia of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company]

The arrival postmark on the back was dated at 長崎 [Nagasaki] on the following day ... [1]3.4.2. [April 2, 1938]. The time mark indicates that it was received during the afternoon ... 午後 4–8 [4-8PM]

   

There is a vertical boxed rectangle with a vermillion hand-stamp on the front. It appear to be 到着 [Arrived]. It's probably not a postal marking. I suspect it's an arrival stamp applied by the local on-shore agent of Canadian Steamship Company. Alternatively, it may have been applied in the ship's mailroom prior to delivery. Other opinions are welcome.

   

There is a manuscript 334 on the front of the cover, in pencil. I assume it's Rev. Stinson's cabin number. In which case, he was traveling first class and had a cabin on the C Deck. 

If my information is correct, the Empress of Asia had left Hong Kong in late March and was scheduled to arrive in Nagasaki on April 2 before continuing on to Kobe and Yokohama. If so, this cover was perfectly timed.

The RMS Empress of Asia was built in 1912 in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships. As well as being a passenger liner between Vancouver, BC, Japan and Hong Kong in peacetime, the ship was an armed merchant cruiser during both world wars. Three years after this cover, in January 1941, she was requisitioned by the British Admiralty.  She was sunk by Japanese aircraft on February 5, 1942 while travelling in convoy from Bombay to  Singapore.

The addressee may have been Rev. John [Wesley Arnold] Stinson (1910-1994) a Canadian missionary in China. In the spring of 1938, shortly after Japan occupied Shanghai, he and Dr. Steward Allen were asked to escort all of the tons of wooden boxes and other missionary baggage that had been stuck in Shanghai. They took a steamer to Hong Kong and travelled on the French Indochina Railway to Kunming. There they hired eight trucks and drivers for a trip along the Burma Road.

[Source: chinamiddlekingdom.siue.edu/omeka-s/s/missionaryphases/item?Search=&property%5B0%5D%5Bproperty%5D=51&property%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=eq&property%5B0%5D%5Btext%5D=John%20Stinson]

Cheers, Hugh