There are many ways to get a hanko. Usually, you have to visit a store where a craftsman works. You could also get a mass produced one if you have a common surname, but that is not good enough if you plan to use it for formal use. Having a handcrafted hanko made takes time and costs a lot of money. But if you have the cash and want something special, then this is the best option.

But if you only need a hanko of necessity and don’t want to spend a lot of hard earned money on it, then there is a cheaper solution; hanko machine. That’s right, there exist machines that will produce a unique hanko for you in 5-20 minutes and they cost around 500 - 2 000 yen. These machines are located in some stores. One of the most famous ones is Don Quijote. Please note that not all stores have the hanko machine.

Image by MASA

I got mine made in the hanko machine located at Don Quijote Mizonokuchi Station (3rd floor by the smoking area if I remember correctly).

The machine has a Japanese and English interface. The English interface does only support “tourist mode” and will forcefully translate your name into kanji for you. This might not be a good option if you want to officially register it since there are some rules on what the hanko should say. If you are a foreigner and have a western name, it is best to use your surname from your passport/residence card. As a foreigner, you usually get some leniency when it comes to the strict rules as long as you write your name in the western alphabet. Seeing a hanko imprint with western letters is not a very common sight in Japan and people might be interested in your hanko. For me, I see this a positive thing, since that will make raise some eyebrows if other people try to use my hanko if it is ever stolen.

If you want to create an official hanko, then you have to use the machine in “Japanese mode”, or else you are not able to write in western letters. This might not seem as difficult as it sounds as long you have watched a few videos of other people creating a hanko. Then you just have to press “next, my name, next, next, next, etc” by memory. The cost and time to produce vary based on how big the hanko should be and what material it should be made of. I made my in plastic and about 13,5 mm and it was accepted as an official seal.

Since there is limited space, your name might be spread across multiple lines. My surname contains six letters, so the machine forced the first four letters and the two last on the second line. And since there was a lot of extra space available on the second line, the machine made those two letters extra big. It looks really silly, but it was still accepted. I will try to use it as little as possible since it is my official seal, so there is no harm except a bit embarrassment on my part every time I look at it.