Stamping out the hanko: Japan set to launch new digitalization agency in September
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government hopes to accelerate digitalization in the central and local governments to improve the quality of services.
Hanko culture set to survive Taro Kono's purge of cheaper stamps
Hanko have been used in Japan for over a millennium, but the practice came under scrutiny this year as workers were forced to visit offices to use the seals amid a state of emergency.
Signed, sealed, discarded: Japan to all but scrap hallowed hanko
The radical switch comes as newly installed Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga seeks to boost use of digital technology to streamline processes.
Hitachi to abolish hanko seals for internal documents and cut paper usage by 70%
The technology giant's initiative is in line with government efforts to promote digitalization in Japan.
'Memorial' held for discarded hanko seals as digitalization takes root
The practicality and usefulness of the stamps has been called into question in recent months, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Tokyo conference debates new normals as coronavirus drives change
Experts at the annual G1 Global Conference discussed the upending of traditional practices, digitalization, working styles and widening inequality.
Hanko are widely used in Japan for signing contracts, business transactions and various administrative procedures.
Taro Kono looks to pinpoint what is demotivating young Japanese bureaucrats
According to a survey of 45,000 government officials, 14.7 percent of males under the age of 30 were planning to call it quits within the next three years.
As the new administrative reform minister, Taro Kono declares war on fax machines
Kono said his ongoing crusade against hanko will go a long way toward phasing out the nation’s entrenched fixation on fax.
Hanko specialist hopes to stamp his mark on post-coronavirus Japan
Fumikazu Matsuzaki is confident that personal seals still have a place in Japanese society, and is branching out to ensure their survival.
Twenty years after digital push, Japanese government still stuck under piles of paper
Two decades after Japan rolled out an ambitious plan to go digital, the COVID-19 crisis has exposed the government's deeply rooted technological shortcomings as ministries remain stuck in a paper-driven culture that experts say is hurting productivity. While Tokyo has made "digital transformation" its main ...
Growing need for digital signatures gives Japanese firm a massive boost
The coronavirus pandemic is yanking corporate Japan into the 21st century and raising the shares of Bengo4.com Inc.
