Photo/Illutration Mitsuhiro Tsukino, owner of the Kamakura Hanko seal shop in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, teaches Australian travelers Rachel Grey, left, and Danielle Davison, center, about “hanko” seals on May 7. (Fumiko Yoshigaki)

The ink’s still drying, but the shrinking “hanko” seal industry may have found an unlikely savior amid Japan's push to go paperless: international tourists.

In early May, Rachel Grey and Danielle Davison--both from Australia--traveled to the ancient capital of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, to visit the eponymous personalized seal shop Kamakura Hanko.

An avid fan of “Jujutsu Kaisen,” “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” and other manga, Grey can speak limited Japanese.

After learning online that she could order a hanko with her name in Japanese characters on it, she made a reservation to visit the store that’s located near Kamakura Station.

“I’m a hanko craftsman,” said Mitsuhiro Tsukino, 44, shop owner and seal engraver, in fluent English.

He went on to explain the role personalized hanko have played in the process of finalizing important decisions in both business and personal affairs, as well as the estimated price of the seal and its materials.

Tsukino then wrote Grey and Davison’s names on paper to show them which katakana characters he would use for their seals.

At Kamakura Hanko, patterns are engraved on the handle of high-end seals using traditional “Kamakura-bori” wood carving techniques.

The two Aussies were deeply impressed when examining the shop’s samples and cases, saying how beautiful and special they were.

Each placed an order for an acrylic seal with their full name in katakana.

INBOUND DEMAND

According to Tsukino, the number of international customers began increasing within the past few years.

A total of 65 groups visited the shop in 2023.

He recalls numbers began to noticeably grow in or around fall last year, with two to three groups coming to the shop each week.

The number of groups visiting the store between Jan. 1 and June 14 was 46, far exceeding the figure for the same period last year. Of these, 60 to 70 percent made reservations through travel agencies’ websites.

Each patron spends between 10,000 yen ($64) and 30,000 yen.

“For foreign people, crafts with their names engraved on them have great appeal,” Tsukino said. “I think they want to put themselves in the mindset of Japanese.”

Ironically, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the central government hammered out a plan to eliminate hanko requirements from administrative procedures, prompting efforts to abolish the mandate in various situations.

According to the Tokyo-based All Japan Seal Industry Association, the number of hanko shops affiliated with the organization has nearly halved in the past decade, dropping from 1,338 in 2014 to 750 in April this year.

Some shops are studying English as the number of overseas customers begins to rise in Tokyo and other parts of the country.

“We hope that inbound tourists can help revitalize the industry,” said a representative of the association’s secretariat.

Tsukino also sees travelers’ growing demand for hanko as a new business opportunity.

“If we raise the profile and cultivate the (global) market, I think it will provide a way out for the hanko industry in the future,” he said.

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