A Personal Seal

I went to the hanko-ya, seal shop, yesterday. I chose the size for my hanko, the type of material it's made from, and the font and case style. I received it today, and I have to say it looks lovely. I can't reveal what the stamp itself looks like for security purposes, but here's a picture of it resting in its case. (I turned the picture sideways once already, but it seems determined to be upright.)

A hanko is pretty important here in Japan. It takes the place of your signature on official documents. Without one, you can't open a bank account or conduct other official business. Once you get a hanko, you're supposed to register it with the government. However, since I don't have an apartment yet, I can't register mine.

Companies are very serious about your hanko. It is someone's job in the company to make sure of the accuracy of the seal. Since each one is slightly different, the company will take out a ruler and measure the stamp made by the seal. If anything is slightly different (i.e. the width of the border, the style of the font), then the company will reject the seal and demand that you bring the correct one. Until the correct seal is brought, they will not do business with you.

On the surface, this seems more than a little unproductive. If you have multiple seals, you have to remember which one you used. This could delay your business for a few days. If you lose the hanko, then no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to complete your business. However, since this is for security purposes, it presents a liability to the company. For this reason, you have to protect your hanko and make sure to never lose it. Otherwise, it presents a huge barrier.

The style of your hanko represents your status. The smaller size is common now. However, if you held a high position, such as the CEO of a company, or if you were a long-established business, you may have a large hanko. This represents pride but can convey arrogance.

In other news, it looks like I'll start looking at apartments Saturday. Tai and his family have been in contact with the realtor (fudousanya) for me. I'll update more in a couple days.