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April 26, 2024
 

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HANKO

Japan Times
JAPAN
May 12, 2021
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2021
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2020
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.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 26, 2020
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2020
'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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Oct 12, 2020
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2020
Prepare to get rid of hanko seals, Suga tells government
Hanko are widely used in Japan for signing contracts, business transactions and various administrative procedures.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2020
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2020
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.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2020
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2020
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.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2020
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2020
Japan to review top obstacle to telework — the personal seal
The long-standing administrative custom requiring official documents be stamped with personal seals has been a major bottleneck in containing the spread of COVID-19.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 22, 2020
Rethinking the need for personal stamps and seals in modern society
Last month, MUFG Bank Ltd. started offering ¥1,000 to each of its first 100,000 customers willing to give up their paper passbooks. MUFG wants people to switch to online banking, which is cheaper for banks — and not just because they can save on production costs. Banks pay billions of yen a year in stamp taxes, which are levied on certain official printed documents. The government will lose revenue on MUFG's plan, but it knows that Japan's banking industry has been in serious financial trouble for years.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Apr 22, 2019
As Japan's banks snub personal stamps, hanko makers pin hopes on growing foreign population
With Japan's foreign population expected to grow in light of the new visa statuses introduced this month, makers of hanko (personal seals) see a new opportunity for business.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2019
Records bearing Emperor's seal and signature and Japan Cabinet meeting documents to be kept on paper
The government considers it essential to save such public records in paper form in order to preserve their historical value, officials said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 9, 2019
Personal seals lose ground as big Japanese banks stop using 1800s technology
It has taken more than a century, but Japanese banks are finally parting ways with a piece of technology that hasn't felt cutting edge since the shogun reigned.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jan 27, 2019
The last 2018 concept winners
Now 2019 is in full swing, On: Design takes a final look at a few of 2018's end of year noteworthy prizewinners.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 27, 2013
At home on the Maasai Mara range
Asuka Takita has a passion for Africa and its wildlife that took root during her childhood in Singapore and flourished in the soils of Kenya during her third year of university.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 21, 2007
'Hanko' fate sealed by test of time
A "hanko" personal seal is a necessary item for most adults in Japan, serving the same role as a signature in the West.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Over 40% of Japan's municipalities at risk of vanishing, study finds
Of 1,729 local municipalities nationwide, 744 have been identified as being at risk of disappearing.
Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Yen inches closer to intervention point as BOJ meeting starts
The rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar is displayed in the trading room at foreign exchange brokerage Gaitame.com in Tokyo on Thursday.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship
Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.
LDP veteran Nikai's youngest son expected to succeed him in Wakayama
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
New workers name Shohei Ohtani as 'dream boss' for two years running
Shohei Ohtani has been overwhelmingly voted as the “dream boss” for people who started working in April, according to a survey.
A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

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