John-Hanko

Interestingly enough, John Handcocks (signatures) are not a common thing here. People just don't sign for things. Need a package signed? New renter and signing off on a lease? At a bank and making a transaction? Pretty much any formal or important transaction? They all use this little thing called a hanko. 

Hankos are pretty much their signatures in stamp format. I suppose calligraphy is really just too much of a hassle for most signatures and perhaps there are not too many handwriting styles for writing the characters for ones name, making forgery easy. Or perhaps the nuances and legibility of the characters are just too tiresome to accurately inscribe for everyday life. Whatever the scenario, Japanese people have made a little short cut for this mundane task in a little form of cylindrical wood or stone stamp. This stamp does not have the traditional rubber plating for the actual stamp, but rather it  has no plating. You name is engraved right into the bottom of the stamp. Cool, you might be thinking...until you realize how difficult it is to stamp with it. Perhaps they like it this way so that it is impossible to cut off and steal the little rubber stamp (if it had one) enabling them to kind of steal your identity. Or perhaps it is because with they way it is carve and the difficulty of stamping it, it leaves its own unique imprint; unique because of the way it was carved and the material it was carved upon leaving certain areas of impression stronger and weaker. Or perhaps I am over thinking this. 

Something I never even once considered until I got one of these, is how to tell which way to stamp it (so your name isn't upside down and you don't look like a fool). There is a little sticker or indent on the hanko that you line up to the top when you impress it so that your name reads right. If you really wanna mess with people, you should just take that sticker and move it like 90 degrees so that people look all sloppy when they stamp (they normally take good car not to appear to sloppy). 

Hankos are dipped in a type of red ink that is extremely similar to just a red stamp pad. Only they sell those items separately so the two different purposes. But if you ask me, they are the same and it is just a money making tactic. China, Taiwan, and Korea, all of which also practice hankos, will use a red paste type material, which will leave a stronger more solid looking impression. I have no idea why Japan has not adopted that. Perhaps because it can be decently messy.