
Begin Japanology – Name Seals / Hanko (2006) [video] - CaliforniaKarl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaABnATXQbY
======
amyjess
I really want one of these.

I _hate_ signing my name. I never sign anything the same way twice, and it's
always a random scribble. I've actually gotten into fights with my bank over
this, and before my landlord switched to electronic signatures, signing my
lease every year was a huge chore due to the number of signatures involved.
Maybe if I'm lucky, the first part of the scribble will look vaguely like the
left half of a cursive A, but it falls apart after that. The only area where
I'm consistent at all is my initials: I always write my initials as a
ligature, as my initials are AJB, which easily link up. [0]

So I really envy that the Japanese can just drop down a stamp and be done with
it. I've actually been considering having a custom seal made for me, either
using my initials ligature (see [0]) or possibly with my name written in
Japanese. I should explain the latter: I decided a while back that if I ever
need to write my name in Japanese, instead of rendering my name in katakana
[1], I'd use a Japanese name that has similar sound/meaning to my own [2].

[0] The main one I use, and an alternative I've been experimenting with
[https://i.imgur.com/Z30PLre.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Z30PLre.jpg)

[1] Amy Book -> エイミー・ブック

[2] 本えみ <\- 本 is the kanji for "Book", and in my name I prefer to read it as
もと (Moto), and えみ is Emi (written in hiragana, which is a syllabary that
carries no semantic meaning), a fairly common Japanese name that sounds
similar to Amy.

~~~
bruxis
It's not clear by this comment if you live in Japan, but if you do, it's quite
common to have a hanko even for foreign names (custom made, of course,
~￥1000+).

If you live in the US, signature seals are quite uncommon but probably
acceptable.

That said, carrying around a seal (and sometimes forgetting it) is not
particularly fun.

~~~
amyjess
> It's not clear by this comment if you live in Japan, but if you do, it's
> quite common to have a hanko even for foreign names (custom made, of course,
> ~￥1000+).

Nah, I live in Texas. I'm just a weeb.

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throw0101a
Beware! Beware! Beware of the time sink that is watching "Begin Japanology"
episodes!

~~~
JoeDaDude
I have not seen this but wanted to make people aware the NHK is available on
streaming platforms and has no end to cool content, such as:

[1] Japanology Plus (a sequel to Begin Japanology?)
[https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/japanologyplus/](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/japanologyplus/)

[2] Journeys in Japan:
[https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/program/video/jo...](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/program/video/journeys/?type=tvEpisode&)

[3] 10 Years with Hayao Mizaki
[https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/program/video/10...](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/program/video/10yearshayaomiyazaki/?type=tvEpisode&)

~~~
lunchables
Do you know what platforms and apps? Some of my absolute favorite shows are on
NHK. This page wasn't very clear:
[https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/howto/](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/howto/)

~~~
JoeDaDude
I get NHK on the NVIDIA Shield (my main device). It is also available on Roku.
Programming may vary between devices, but these two both have Japanology Plus
and the Mayao Miyazaki special.

~~~
lunchables
Thank you! I use an NVIDIA Shield as well.

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franciscop
A friend made a list of all the Begin Japanology chapters. An incredible time
sink, but amazing nonetheless:

[http://japanology.tv/](http://japanology.tv/)

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glandium
Ironically, in Japan, the video is geo-blocked by Sony Music Entertainment
Japan:

この動画には Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.
さんのコンテンツが含まれており、お住まいの地域では著作権上の問題で権利所有者によりブロックされています。

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CaliforniaKarl
I posted this because I find it interesting as a form of authentication,
compared to a signature. Especially with one person having multiple seals, for
different purposes.

~~~
johnwalkr
I can't watch this because I'm in Japan and its geoblocked but hanko can be
convenient. \- you can leave a hanko with an authorized person to sign on your
behalf (eg when you're a CEO traveling abroad). \- you can unregister your
hanko if it's stolen \- as you said you can have multiple hanko for various
purposes. For large purposes like buying a house, it will be verified against
the hanko the you registered in your city

On the other hand, \- if it wears out or part of it breaks, OCR algorithms can
flag your hanko stamp and stop a basic transaction. \- As a foreigner, you
have the right to sign instead of use a hanko, but in use for banking or
whatever, it is run through the same hanko verification OCR algorithms,
meaning your transactions using signatures are sometimes flagged due to 2
slightly different signatures \- A stolen hanko is a real liability risk (this
is why you should not use your banking hanko for accepting packages, etc, but
rather use a separate one)

~~~
zeeZ
> I can't watch this because I'm in Japan and its geoblocked but hanko can be
> convenient. - you can leave a hanko with an authorized person to sign on
> your behalf (eg when you're a CEO traveling abroad). - you can unregister
> your hanko if it's stolen - as you said you can have multiple hanko for
> various purposes. For large purposes like buying a house, it will be
> verified against the hanko the you registered in your city

> As a foreigner, you have the right to sign instead of use a hanko, but in
> use for banking or whatever, it is run through the same hanko verification
> OCR algorithms, meaning your transactions using signatures are sometimes
> flagged due to 2 slightly different signatures

As someone who was required to sign something at the post office and literally
sent home to practice their signature until it resembles one on an almost 10
years old ID, I thing I'd prefer a stamp. I would not get anything done.

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drderidder
It used to be a commonplace (and interesting) to see Japanese people
frequently take out their stamp for anything requiring a "signature" but in
recent years I really haven't seen it happening much. I was always able to use
a signature on any official document and I think this has become a much more
acceptable form of verification for Japanese people nowadays.

Also, it's a shame those episodes are geoblocked in Japan since some of the
people who'd most enjoy and benefit from them are people who're visiting Japan
for an extended period.

~~~
kipchak
I'm no expert but I think they're still fairly commonly used in China. There's
a rather popular small cheap 40w laser engraver (3020) sold on sites like
Alibaba designed for stamp making that's become fairly popular elsewhere for
hobbyist usage.

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Animats
Docusign partnered with a Japanese manufacturer of hanko to create an
authentication device.[1] That was in 2015. What happened to that? It seemed a
nice way to package up 2-factor authentication.

[1] [https://www.docusign.com/press-releases/docusign-and-
shachih...](https://www.docusign.com/press-releases/docusign-and-shachihata-
to-bring-hanko-into-the-digital-age)

