Job Discussion Forums

[worldwidealive]

I think the hanko concept has to be the stupidest, most out of date idea imaginable. I wonder if they have ever heard of using some form of official photo ID?!?

WWA

[Nismo]

[spidey]

Nuchie,

There are plenty of small independantly owned Hanko shops around. You shoudn't have to pay more than ￥2000 for a basic style stamp with a case. Just ask one of your Japanese co-workers. These minimum figures of ￥5000 and ￥7000 are completely unnecessary.

S

[Reisender]

I got an inkan from Tokyu Hands in Nagoya for about �800. Then I come to Fukuyama, try to open an account with Hiroshima and they insist on a stone version because the plastic, self-inking kind are too cheap and easy for all those Japanese embezzlers out there to copy. They didn't accept my obsequious protestations that Japanese were very honest and that I wasn't worried about it here.

The version I replaced it with cost �4035. I could have shopped around or tried another branch of Hiroshima but I need an account to get paid one of these days so I thought it would at least make a more authentic looking Japan keepsake than the cheap Brother� version I got in Sakae.

They do make nice mementos though. You can get nifty ones that are integrated with pens and all kinds of other stuff and they take up less room in your luggage than kimono and all the tacky kitsch you can also buy (as I will).

[JimDunlop2]

How could they ever tell the difference unless you handed it to them? I would just tell them to show me where to stamp, and I'll do it, thank you very much.

I would also explain to them, that if a plastic one is good enough for the Japanese government (to get a shoumeisho at city hall for purchasing verhicles or real estate) then it's gotta be good enough for them.

If they still insisted, I'd very politely tell them to "get bent" as there are more than enough banks in this country that provide the same service without being so difficult about it.

Please, you guys. I realize that sometimes "shou ga nai" is the best approach in Japan, but by the same token -- don't just become SHEEP like the rest of the country and accept "no" and "because we said so" as legitimate answers. Sometimes it takes creative thinking on your part, but so far I've found very few rules in this country that cannot somehow be bent or outright broken. Paying upwards of 5000 yen just because a xenophobic bank teller requests it is complete nonsense. (No offence intended towards you Reisender) but this kind of thing just cheezes me off.

Sorry you had such trouble, dude. Like I said, I've known foreigners to use 100-yen shop hankos that aren't even in their own names, and no one stopped to ask why.

P.S. I wonder how they'd react to MY hanko? It's made of WOOD and despite the fact that my name is "foreign" the sounds have been translated into kanji.

[markle]

[JimDunlop2]

Easy. Any given sound usually has a number of homophones. I.e. same sound, different meaning. That's why Japanese people don't laugh at name jokes...

E.g. HAHAHAHAHHA! Your name's GOMI!!!

Nihonjin: (not amused): Umm.. Different kanji

Sometimes you have to balance sound with meaning....