This is a Japanese Occupation cover that I recently acquired, dated "2 10 2604" (2 Oct 1944) and adressed to Mr. Paul Leong, Kuching. One of the stamps is from Brunei (SGJ6). Curiously, there is a diagonal line at the end of the overprinted character joining the horizontal line on top of the last 3 characters. Because I'm not very familiar with Brunei stamp, I'm not sure whether this is a common occurence or not. 5 other North Borneo stamps were used (SGJ24, J25, J26, J27 and J46). Collectively, the SG catalogue values for all these stamps off cover is around £157.50. On cover, the value should be much higher.

During the Japanese occupation, North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei were grouped together under one administration and was known as "Kita Borneo". Singapore was referred to as “Syonan-To”.The capital of Kita Borneo was Kuching and was run by a governor by the name of Gun Shirekan Kakka, General Yamawaki. The Japanese army first invaded Labuan in 1 January 1942. On May 16, 1942, the Allied army surrendered and Borneo was put under the Japanese rule. Borneo was later divided into two divisions; the west coast including the interior and Kudat was named Sheikai Shiu and the east coast was called Tokai Shiu. On 10 September 1945, Japanese army surrendered in Labuan.