inkan/hoken

[Oosutorariajin]

Hey guys,

I am after an inkan and was wondering what I shoul expect to pay for it... I just the feeling that because I am gaijin they could easily rip me off because quite rightly I know nothing about the standard and so forth

Thanks

[baby_pixie]

I think that would depend on how many characters you are getting on it and the material of the inkan. My three katakana characters on a simple wood inkan cost me about 700yen at The Loft. You can usually find pretty nice looking inkan cases at any 100yen store.

[Oosutorariajin]

I am gonna get mine made in katakana so I dont reckon I can get one prefab.

but from that I am assuming less than 5000yen...

[MNJetter]

Mine was free. Or at least, my board of education had one made for me, and never asked me for money for it.

[Oosutorariajin]

haha lucky bugger!! I know a few people that have been given it as a gift or some such.

Do Jet get given one generally or is only some?

Either way it doesnt apply to me at the moment

[erbiumfiber]

I paid 3000 yen, two katakana characters, at a stationary store right across the street from my work in Shinjuku. It's made out of some hard resin material (looks like fake ivory). Didn't include the case. I went all out and spent a couple thousand yen on a cool-looking case about two years later after I was tired of going case-less.

Ito Yokado (chain department/supermarket) has a stationary department that makes them and I'm guessing it would cost less.

Sometimes there is a package case/inkan deal (when is it a "hanko and when is it an "inkan", I'm so confused...) but, at the time, I was very, very poor so went for the cheapest thing I could get.

My co-worker never got one and, as a result, he gets away with just signing everything, even at his bank and mobile phone store.

[EIJI]

Internet is always your friend!
http://www.hankoya.com/shop/p_mitome.html
2800Yen

They offer alphabetical INKAN.:clap:
http://www.hankoya.com/advice/font.html
http://www.hankoya.com/advice/images/font_jitsu-tensyo_al.gif

[Oosutorariajin]

wow that is lucky you only needed 2 characters. i reckon mine will be 5 characters.

I understand that I could sign for nearly everything or just play the gaijin card and all but I would sort of like to do the whole when in goa do as the goans do. haha

[Oosutorariajin]

I should stick with researching journals I think. How did you find that? I thought there would be tonnes of info on the net but what i found was very vague or 20 years old!

[baby_pixie]

Mine isn't pre-fab. The stationary department of The Loft has customized inkans. I'm not sure why my estimated cost is so much lower than everyone else's but I really do remember paying less than 1000yen for mine.

Trying to fit 5 katakana characters on the tiny inkan starts to get really scrunched up and messy looking. Perhaps you can shorten your name or use a nickname. Or as Eiji suggested, you can get an inkan with English characters.

[japanat]

Hanko or inkan?

Hanko is the stamp, can be any stamp, can be made anywhere.

Inkan is a registered stamp - you have to take it to town/city hall for registration (I think free, but I don't remember). Then you have to buy a certificate any time you need it for an official function, like buying a car or a house.

My hanko is in katakana for my name, registered and used for house, 2 cars, motorcycle, registering kids at school, etc.

[EIJI]

You can order Hanko/Inkan in English.
http://www.shibuya-hanko.com/seal.htm

[mikem]

I remember my hanko costing at least 10,000. I think I just got it at Keio or something though. :)

More importantly I've used it exactly once. Everyone just wants your signature and when I opened my bank account they advised me not to use it because a signature is so much easier. (You don't have to carry it around and you don't have to lose it.)

If you just want to be able to stamp the delivery slips when you order things online you can use just about anything. Something as simple as your last name initial would be fine. (You could find that at a 100yen store.)

[erbiumfiber]

Hanko or inkan?

Hanko is the stamp, can be any stamp, can be made anywhere.

Inkan is a registered stamp - you have to take it to town/city hall for registration (I think free, but I don't remember). Then you have to buy a certificate any time you need it for an official function, like buying a car or a house.

My hanko is in katakana for my name, registered and used for house, 2 cars, motorcycle, registering kids at school, etc.

Thanks. I have been confused about that and never bothered to look it up. Yes, I also bought my condo with an unregistered hanko but, it being katakana, I really doubt that Japanese people are going to steal it and pose as me or use a 100 yen version (not available). However, if my name were Tanaka, I would probably have an inkan.

I carry mine with me in my pocketbook along with my bankbook, passport, and other critical stuff. So I'm VERY careful about my pocketbook. Mostly, there's never much in my bank account- it's all in the U.S. or the UK and then gone to bills- so even if someone showed up with my hanko and bankbook they'd get a couple hundred thousand yen at most.


_______

Yeah, buy it at a department store and you'll pay through the nose.

_______

I saw on the news where you can get a hanko where your name is written within the outline of a dog, cat, or other animal. It was kind of cute but kind of hard to see the outline of the animal.

[baby_pixie]

Oooooh, well that clears up a lot. My hanko's unregistered but the only official use I've had of it was for banking.

I still don't understand why I had mine customized for so much cheaper than everyone else's estimates. Am I remembering it totally wrong?

[ミュー]

I paid 2800 for a nice 15mm light wood inkan. I was able to choose the character font. You can register one anytime at your ward/city office.