The Hanko culture

Hanko is the Japanese stamp people are using everywhere. Everything is stamped. Visiting a mansion? Going for breakfast with a prepaid voucher? Getting a specialty ticket to somwhere? Get it stamped! The stamping culture is deeply rooted here in the tradition. Every person, every family has their own Hanko. Hankos are registered at the Hanko registry. Hankos are stored in vaults, are locked up in secure places to prevent theft. Hankos are unique and intricately designed stamps. The Kitano Ijinkan stamp from the Yamate 8-Bankan house:

The Hanko from the Lion House:

Sometime it feels like this is an artificial connection of people to the traditional past. Doesn't take too much to demonstrate how you care about your own tradition, just create a beautiful Hanko and use it. Obviously Hankos are today considered as unsecure, easily forged tools. In the era of asymmetric cryptography, digital signatures, 2-factor authentication, etc., hankos still play a big role. I'd even say that there is a whole technological backend supporting the usage of these traditional manners instead of replacing them with modern architecture. Whenever I see a long queue there are 3 options: Either it's for udon/soba/ramen, or for a pop-up sweet shop that sell only 60 instances of a matcha-pumpkin layerd doughnu and the third option is of course to get a stamp to the collection. Here is a hanko shop window where you can personalize your hanko:

A stamping station on top of the Fukuoka Tower:

Happy stamping!