Japanese Seal Culture

An inkan [印鑑], referred to as a ‘seal’ in English, is a small cylindrical object that is about 1-2 centimeters in diameter, 5-6 centimeters in length, and has a person’s name carved in stylized letters into the surface of one end. You use an inkan by pressing the end with the name written on it onto a red ink pad, and then press it onto paper. In Europe and North America, a person’s signature is regarded as sufficient proof of one’s identity, consent, etc., but in Japan, seals are used in place of personal signatures in various situations. Ones’s registered legal seal, jitsuin, [実印] is used how a signature would be on official or public documents, with it confirming a person’s intentions and identity, and is registered at City Hall.

Before registering your seal at City Hall, you of course must first have one made. You will need to decide how you would like to have your name carved into the seal. This includes the character type, so you must select either ‘romaji’ Roman characters, ‘katakana’ characters used for foreign words, or ‘kanji’ Chinese characters. Be sure to choose characters that express the name you ordinarily use on a daily basis. When you want to register your seal, it is best to take along piece of mail that shows your name, a pay slip, a certificate of employment, or similar documentation as proof that this is the name you use, in addition to your actual seal to ensure registration goes smoothly. Once you have registered your seal, you will be able to receive a certificate of seal registration ‘Inkan Tōroku Shōmeisho,’ [印鑑登録証明書]. You can request this document when necessary, such as when purchasing a car.

In addition to a jitsuin, there are inkan for informal use called personal seals or signets ‘mitomein,’ [認印] that are used in situation like receiving mail. Because of its importance, inkan have a symbolic meaning, and there are many people who pay close attention to its size and who have it made out of high-quality material.

Inkan are not only important for daily life, but are also cool to have. How about making a memento of your time here in Japan?