A display of Hanko stamps in a store

Like I've said before, one of the benefits of going abroad with Rotary is that they take care of you in every aspect.  Upon arrival, among other things, I was given my own personal Japanese name stamp called a Hanko or Inkan and business cards (one side in English the other in Japanese).  Though we had experience in China with seals, we never had our own stamps.  In China, one couldn't get anything done unless official documents had at least one or sometimes several red seals.  I used to think that if I could just get my hands on a couple of them for personal use then life would have gotten a lot easier.

My ink stamp case

My stamp with ink inside

Here in Japan, people use their stamps instead of signatures.  As a foreigner, I've been able to do both though I was required to have my stamp when I signed up for a cell phone and opened a bank account.  I also have to use it on official documents at school.  It is kept in a little convenient carrying case that has its own red ink compartment.  My stamp is just my first name in Katakana which amounts to the characters that sound out "sa - ra" which is what Rotary picked out for me.  One of our projects during break was to get Sean his own name stamp as he has to open a bank account of his own (apparently joint checking accounts are not a thing here).  I also am supposed to use my ink stamp when I sign in to teach at Meisei University. Sometimes I forget to bring it, however, and in that case they just let me sign my initials.

My name "sa-ra" stamped out

Most Japanese have much more intricate stamps

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