The core idea: a seal is only as strong as its record
A signature and a seal solve the same problem in different ways. A signature is hard to copy because your hand is unique. A seal is easy to imitate, so its strength must come from elsewhere: a registered impression that a new one can be compared with. The formal word inkan (印鑑) shows this. It is literally seal specimen, the reference copy kept on file.
Everything about seals follows from asking where the record is. The city office holds the record for your jitsuin, so it is accepted for property and major contracts. Your bank holds the record for your ginkōin, so it works at that bank. Nobody holds a record for your mitomein, so it only shows that you saw and accepted something. You will hear about seals at the door, in the office and at the counter.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ハンコかサインをお願いします。 | Hanko ka sain o onegai shimasu. | A stamp or a signature, please. (delivery driver) |
| サインでいいですか。 | Sain de ii desu ka. | Is a signature all right? |
| ここにハンコ、押してもらえる？ | Koko ni hanko, oshite moraeru? | Can you stamp here? (colleague, casual) |
| 印鑑をお持ちですか。 | Inkan o o-mochi desu ka. | Do you have your seal with you? (clerk) |
Hanko, inkan and the words around them
In daily speech hanko (判子) and inkan both mean the stamp itself. Hanko is the everyday word; inkan sounds more formal and is what clerks say. Strictly, the object is an inshō (印章) and the red mark it leaves is the in'ei (印影), a distinction that matters mainly in legal texts.
The verb is osu, to press: hanko o osu. On forms and in keigo, natsuin (捺印) and ōin (押印) both mean stamping, and staff will say go-natsuin kudasai. In everyday use the two are interchangeable.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ハンコを押す | Hanko o osu | To stamp a seal |
| こちらにご捺印ください。 | Kochira ni go-natsuin kudasai. | Please stamp your seal here. (clerk) |
| ハンコ、どこに押せばいい？ | Hanko, doko ni oseba ii? | Where should I stamp? (casual) |
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 判子 | hanko | Seal, the everyday word |
| 印鑑 | inkan | Seal, the formal word; literally seal specimen |
| 印影 | in'ei | The impression a seal leaves |
| 朱肉 | shuniku | Red ink pad; literally vermilion flesh |
| 捺印・押印 | natsuin, ōin | Stamping, on forms and in keigo |
| 三文判 | sanmonban | Cheap ready-made seal; literally three-mon seal, a mon being an old coin of little value |
Three seals, three jobs
People who use seals often keep three, and keeping them separate is the point: if one is lost or copied, the damage stops at its level. The jitsuin (実印), literally real seal, is registered at the municipal office. The ginkōin (銀行印) is registered with a bank when you open an account. The mitomein (認印), literally acknowledgement seal, is registered nowhere and does the everyday work.
The jitsuin is usually the largest and often carries the full name; the others tend to be smaller and may show only the surname. These are habits, not rules, and many foreign residents own only a mitomein.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 実印は家に置いてあります。 | Jitsuin wa ie ni oite arimasu. | I keep my registered seal at home. |
| 認印で大丈夫です。 | Mitomein de daijōbu desu. | An everyday seal is fine. (clerk) |
| Seal | Reading | Registered with | Typical uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 実印 | jitsuin | The municipal office | Property, registering a car, loans, inheritance |
| 銀行印 | ginkōin | Your bank | Opening an account, counter withdrawals, direct debits |
| 認印 | mitomein | Nobody | Parcels, neighbourhood circulars, internal paperwork |
| 浸透印 | shintōin | Nobody | Parcels and internal notes only |
Why self-inking stamps are refused
The self-inking stamp, shintōin (浸透印), literally soak-through seal, stores its ink inside a soft rubber face. Most people call it shachihata, after its best-known maker. It is quick and clean, and perfectly fine for parcels or for initialling a circular.
Apply the core idea and the refusal makes sense. Soft rubber squashes a little differently with each press and wears with use, so two impressions from the same stamp may not match exactly. Identical ones are mass-produced for common surnames, so a match would prove little anyway. Where an impression must be compared with a record, a self-inking stamp cannot do the job, and forms say so in advance.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| シャチハタ不可 | Shachihata fuka | Self-inking stamps not accepted (printed on forms) |
| 朱肉を使う印鑑でお願いします。 | Shuniku o tsukau inkan de onegai shimasu. | Please use a seal that takes an ink pad. (clerk) |
| 朱肉をお借りできますか。 | Shuniku o o-kari dekimasu ka. | Could I borrow an ink pad? |
Where and how to stamp
On a form, the place for a seal is marked 印, usually in a small printed circle at the end of the name line, sometimes as ㊞. Stamp so that your impression covers the mark. Where a box is headed ōin or natsuin instead, stamp inside it. Write your name first, then stamp.
A good impression is round, complete and upright. The faults have names: nijimi, a smudge or double image from too much ink or a slip; kasure, a faint or broken impression from too little ink or uneven pressure; and katamuki, a tilt from holding the seal the wrong way round.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ハンコがかすれてしまいました。 | Hanko ga kasurete shimaimashita. | The stamp has come out faint. |
| 横にもう一度押していただけますか。 | Yoko ni mō ichido oshite itadakemasu ka. | Could you stamp it again beside it? (clerk) |
- Check which way up it goes: many seals have a small dot or notch as a guide.
- Tap the seal lightly on the ink pad several times rather than pressing it in once.
- Put something slightly soft under the paper, such as a stamping mat or a notebook.
- Press straight down with even pressure for a second, then lift straight up without rocking.
- Wipe the face of the seal before putting it away.
Beyond the basics: having a seal made and registered
Ready-made seals for common Japanese surnames are sold in stationery shops and hundred-yen shops. A foreign name has to be made to order at a hankoya (はんこ屋), a seal shop, usually in katakana, sometimes in the Latin alphabet or in kanji chosen for the sound. Expect to wait days rather than minutes.
Registering a jitsuin, inkan tōroku (印鑑登録), is done at the municipal office where you are a registered resident, with the seal and your residence card. You receive a registration card and can then obtain a certificate of seal registration, usually called inkan shōmei (印鑑証明), whenever a contract asks for one. Each municipality sets its own rules on size and on which form of your name it accepts, so check before you order. Rubber and self-inking seals are not accepted.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 印鑑登録をしたいんですが。 | Inkan tōroku o shitai n desu ga. | I'd like to register a seal. |
| カタカナの印鑑でも登録できますか。 | Katakana no inkan demo tōroku dekimasu ka. | Can I register a seal in katakana? |
| 印鑑登録証はお持ちですか。 | Inkan tōroku-shō wa o-mochi desu ka. | Do you have your seal registration card? (clerk) |
| 印鑑証明を一通お願いします。 | Inkan shōmei o ittsū onegai shimasu. | One copy of my seal certificate, please. |
Correction, spare and split seals
On contracts and official forms, corrections are sealed. Draw a double line through the mistake, write the correction nearby, and press a teisei-in (訂正印), correction seal, on or beside the line, using the same seal as elsewhere in the document. Some offices simply prefer a fresh form.
A sute-in (捨印), literally thrown-away seal, is an extra impression in the margin that lets the other party fix small errors later. It is convenient, but it gives permission in advance, so leave one only when you trust the recipient. Two more are easily confused: keiin (契印) straddles the join between pages of one document so pages cannot be swapped, while wariin (割印) straddles two separate documents, such as a contract and its copy, to show they belong together.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 捨印は必要ですか。 | Sute-in wa hitsuyō desu ka. | Is a spare seal in the margin necessary? |
| こちらに訂正印をお願いします。 | Kochira ni teisei-in o onegai shimasu. | Please put your correction seal here. (clerk) |
| 契約書二部に割印をお願いします。 | Keiyakusho nibu ni wariin o onegai shimasu. | Please stamp across both copies of the contract. |
Fewer seals than before
Since 2020 the national government has removed the seal requirement from the great majority of administrative procedures, and many city offices, banks and companies have moved to signatures or online forms. Registered seals remain for weightier matters such as property, registering a car and some contracts.
Practice still varies by office, bank and employer. Some companies approve everything online; others still pass paper around for a row of stamps. The practical approach is to ask before you queue: whether a seal is needed, which one, and whether a signature will do. Filling in the rest of a form, and the bank counter itself, are covered in separate posts.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 印鑑は不要になりました。 | Inkan wa fuyō ni narimashita. | A seal is no longer required. (clerk) |
| 署名だけで大丈夫ですよ。 | Shomei dake de daijōbu desu yo. | Just a signature is fine. |
| 念のため、印鑑も持ってきてください。 | Nen no tame, inkan mo motte kite kudasai. | Please bring your seal too, just in case. |
| どの印鑑が必要ですか。 | Dono inkan ga hitsuyō desu ka. | Which seal do you need? |
Common mistakes with hanko
Using one seal for everything. It is convenient, but if your jitsuin doubles as your mitomein, every parcel slip spreads your registered impression. Keep the registered seal at home and bring it only when asked.
Taking a self-inking stamp to the bank or city office. It looks like a proper seal, so newcomers assume it counts. Carry one that uses an ink pad whenever the stakes are higher than a parcel.
Forgetting which seal you registered at the bank. With two similar seals, learners guess, and a mismatch stops the transaction. Note it the day you open the account.
Stamping again on top of a smudge. The instinct is to repair the impression, but a second press in the same place makes it worse. Stamp beside it, or ask how the office wants it corrected.
Stamping upside down. Round seals give no clue, so learners press whichever way they are holding them. Check the guide mark before you ink.