We are in process of buying a house, and they are asking for my hanko. Unfortunately, I have been able to do everything so far without one so I never got one.
For context, my name is in romanji and contains 31 characters, plus 3 for spaces.
My name is as Last name Last name Middle name First name (people from Hispanic families have 2 last names)
Looking at the rules for official hanko, it needs to match exactly what I have on my number card / license but my name is exactly as above on those cards.
How do I even get or make a hanko which I can register officially to buy a house?
by makishi-jp
31 comments
Might be worth a trip (or phone call) to city hall and ask them what they would be willing to register. Probably, it should be your surname. A good hanko shop can get pretty creative and carve pretty small.
EDIT: I would put your last name that appears first on your documents rather than both.
The hanko I used to buy a house was just my last name in romaji-but I bought a house before I moved here.
Have you tried to going to a vendor? Toyku Hands in my area had actual staff who worked with me on making a design that worked, though of course ymmv
You can choose whichever name you like the most and order for it to be in katakana. For formality, one of your last names would be good, but using your given name is also okay. You will need to officially register it anyway.
Your city hall has guidelines as to what can be used and the rules can vary
In my experience, Sendai city allows for anything but Tokyo required my Romaji last name for a jitsu in. Although if you have a long last name, you can wrap it across several lines.
My first name is 5 kana long but my last name is 7 kana long(don’t get me started on middle). Both names are longer in romaji.
My hanko for when I bought my home is my first name in katakana. No one so much as blinked an eye at me registering it that way.
I will say this was in 2021. And in Tokyo but not 23 wards.
Just get your last name that is registered with the city hall on your hanko. You can go and order one or have one made from any place that sells them. There are also places that can do them instantly. You should register it with city hall. If you’re married and you took an AKA last name you’ll have two hankos like me.
They didn’t accept my first name katakana for official documents, so I had to remake one with my first name in romaji (so basically my actual first name). Registered at the city office.
My full name has four names in it. I made my official hanko with my family name which is the first/last out of my four names.
I believe you just need one family name for your official hanko.
I registered mine at city hall. I had to get an alias setup for my name in Romaji, as the hanko is Romaji but my name at city hall/residence card is English.
I’d ask at city hall if you could do 1 last name and have that as an alias, if it would be acceptable.
I went to the hanko shop in my city and I told them what I needed the hanko for.
They told me the type I needed, the size, and what was acceptable and then gave me the options on stamps.
It does take some time to make the hanko, so if you need it urgently, get it done as soon as possible.
There are many branches of Hanko21 in the kanto area, generally you can put either your full name or just your surname for an official hanko.
I think you just need one of your last names. Probably use the conventional, keep the paternal and drop the maternal. Mine is just my surname in katakana, took 30 minutes for the guy to do it at the local shop. It’s been accepted for all of my transactions related to real estate.
Your hanko can be anything. Mine is a 500 yen hanko, only half of my first name in romaji with the wrong spelling (long story…) and I just bought a plot, a house, and got a mortgage with it. No problems.
I just order on amazon and they figure it out but I also only use one of my names
The one I registered is last name first name in katakana
I recommend [hankoman.jp](https://hankoman.jp/k_jitu.php). They were fast and the seal is a nice quality. They can engrave romaji hanko.
I just put my full name in romaji – same spelling as the machine-parsable section of my passport – in their cursive font. I’ve used it at the bank and for lease contracts without any problems, after registering it at the local city hall.
Regarding the ordering, it’s just Western ordering. The important part is that it’s registered by you at the city hall, not how the name is laid out. The seal should also be of type 実印 and not 銀行印 or 認印. It seems the latter two are often used without registering them at the city hall, so get a 実印 hanko.
I also have a very long name with multiple spaces, and I just told them how I wanted it laid out in a follow-up email. It turned out pretty well.
I made mine at donki, in roman letters, they have hanko vending machines that make them for 1000~1500 yen. I’ve heard that assigning yourself arbitrary kanji can be problematic with some insitututions, people advice against kana too.
My name is very long and hispanic too, I just abbreviated my first last name and first name. Not giving my real name for obvious reasons, but if I were “Fernando Javier González Rojas”, my hanko would just have been
GONZ
FERN
Horizontal, in a circle. I used it for my Yuucho account no problem
Does your “official hanko” have to match your number card? Most people in Japan only have their surname on the hanko anyway. Maybe I’m thinking of a less official hanko? I have a hanko I use for banking, etc., that is “official”, but has my last name in katakana.
My hanko is all katakana and i have a long name. I think i found the seal shop on rakuten. If you google it, many exist like hankoman.jp
After that you need to register it to the city hall. It was mandatory to have one for Car, loan, house.
Mine is my first name, 6 katakana. I thought about changing it to 2 kanji (last name) since I got married, but honestly the squashed katakana is kind of funny.
Just go to any hanko shop and say you need a 実印 (Jitsuin). They will make one for you, it needs to be of certain material. Just do same order as all your Japanese documents (license, residence card). Mine was Romaji.
Then go to city hall and say you need to register your new hanko. They will register it for you and when the registration process is done you can get a 印鑑登録証明書. A certificate showing your hanko is registered with the city. Then, get that house.
I bought mine at Daiso.
Donki have a machine that can do custom official hankos. I doubt you’ll find cheaper.
My registered hanko is just my last name in katakana on a ¥600 chunk of plastic from Donki. I used it for my mortgage.
You’ll need to check with your ward office for their requirements. For one ward, I had to register the katakana with city hall so that they would accept it but with two others, they didn’t require that. I’ve heard that some wards will have requirements around shape, size, and materials.
I had a hanko made, went to the city office to register it (you will need to for buying a house) and that’s it. You pick the style and they make it. Don’t loose it, don’t damage it. If you do, then new trip to the city office.
The hanko you use for your house loan should not be the same as the one you stamp on all kinds of stuff like Amazon delivery and stuff. You should have a IDGAF stamp anywhere hanko and the official one where money is involved.. like buying a house or a car, bank stuff.
Only your last name in katakana is fine, and you can order them online. It is extraordinarily rare for a full name or even first and last name to be on a hanko. Many might call it even strange.
Get a shachihata for everyday use, and an order made one and then register it if you buy a house or car.
Hey! I have a Spanish name with two family names too, and they required me to get a hanko for my rental contract. They just used my first family name, and there’s been no issues so far.
You don’t need your full name, just any one of your names either in romaji or your officially registered katakana. Very quick and easy to get from almost any hanko place. I got my last jitsuin from Rakuten for less than 1000 yen.
You’re sure you need a registered one? I bought my house with a ¥1000 hanko from the automatic machine at Donki but that’s just my case
As a person who has two last name and have a hanko, just chose your first last name and put it in katakana in the hanko. I also met people whose last name is like 10 letters and it fit well.
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