hanko

one of the first necessities you need to get after arriving in japan is a personal seal to act as your signature. the hanko or inkan is still used for everything from opening a bank account to 'signing' for a couriered parcel. it's kind of your ID. I love mine - each one is personally designed, and although you can get ready made ones, I found everyone seemed to be out of stock of 'Kerr' seals when I was looking. many people have a few of them, one for everyday use and one, perhaps more stylised, for official use. I wanted to blog about a hanko shop I used to pass but I never got a snap. as the product is so small, the shops tend to be tiny. this one was about a meter wide and 4 meters long but as demand is sporadic you really don't need much more. some non japanese use the sylable sounds of their name to choose a fitting kanji to make up a 'japanese' name but as I had already been documented in the simple katakana form there just would have been too much red tape to change it. but not to worry.

Post a comment