CHARACTERS
Your Name, Carved in Japanese
Kanji, Katakana, or Your Own Design
— Three Equal Ways to Make Your Hanko
Every name has more than one shape in Japanese. We recommend three equal options — pick whichever suits you.
Kanji, Katakana, or Your Own Design — Three Equal Ways to Make Your Hanko
There is more than one way to write your name in Japanese — and at KAMAKURA SIGNET, we treat each one with equal respect.
Every commission begins with a choice between three paths.
Whichever you select, the carving is the same: hand-engraved in Kamakura, by a nationally certified master.
① Kanji — Your Name in Meaning
Kanji are characters that carry meaning as well as sound.
For foreign names, our master selects characters that match the pronunciation of your name while reflecting qualities you wish to carry — clarity, strength, grace, faith, harmony.
A Kanji hanko is a name with intention.
It is read as your name, and admired for what it suggests beyond it.
Example: “Maria” may be composed as 真理愛 — “truth, reason, love.”
② Katakana — Your Name in Sound
Katakana is the Japanese script designed to render the sound of foreign words and names.
Its lines are sharp, balanced, and architectural — a script that, on a hanko, reads with quiet modern elegance.
A Katakana hanko keeps your name exactly as it sounds in your own language, presented in a uniquely Japanese form.
Example: “Maria” becomes マリア — sound, precisely shaped.
We recommend Kanji and Katakana equally.
The choice is not one of correctness, but of personal voice: meaning, or sound.
③ Your Own Design — Brought from Your Hand
If you already have a design, a sketch, a family crest, a logo, or a personal signature you wish to carry into your hanko, we accept your data and craft an original, one-of-a-kind seal built around it.
Our master will refine your design for the discipline of carving — adjusting weight, balance, and depth — while preserving its character.
What you receive is an object that is yours alone, in form as well as in name.
Every Commission, the Same Process
Whichever path you choose, the workflow is the same:
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Order online or by appointment
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Design proposal by the master
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Your review and approval
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Hand-engraving in our Kamakura atelier
A hanko is too personal to leave to chance.
We design it with you — then carve it for a lifetime.
①Kanji
・Meaning and Symbolism
・Craftsmen propose kanji
・characters suited to the name.
Example: Maria
→ 真理愛 (True-Reason-Love)
②Katakana
・Fluid, beautiful form
・Pairs exceptionally well with foreign names
・Allows the sounds of foreign names to be carved directly
③Your Own Design
・Send us your sketches, logos, family crests, or signature images.
・Our artisans refine the design → then engrave it.
・A truly one-of-a-kind "custom-engraved design."
The Master Collection
Original
We will make HANKO stamps based on your original design or requests. Our craftsmen will carve them based on your image data. We can make round and square HANKO stamps. Please send us the design data.
Katakana **Recommended
This beautiful traditional typeface can serve as a traditional or official HANKO Stamps in Japan. Originating from the Heian period, Manyokana script was originally used to transcribe Chinese characters text into Japanese. However, Katakana later emerged as crucial script for writing quickly and concisely. Today, Katakana is primarily used to transcribe foreign words into Japanese, especially those that have been recently borrowed.
Reasons why we recommend Katakana fonts
- Katakana is a typeface unique to Japan
- Katakana designs have a flowing and beautiful look
- Katakana is used in Japan to replace the pronunciation of foreign languages
- Can be used as official personal HANKO Stamps and bank HANKO Stamps. Kanji cannot be used as official HANKO Stamps.
KANJI **Recommended
Kanji is a system of ideograms originally developed in China to transcribe Chinese. Kanji can represent the shape of an object, an abstract concept, or a combination of both. There are over 50,000 Kanji characters, of which 6-7,000 are used in literature and about 3,000 are used in daily communication. This beautiful traditional typeface is impressive. However, it cannot be used as a personal HANKO Stamps or official stamp in Japan. If you want to use it as a personal HANKO Stamps or official stamp, you must apply to KANJI for the name on your identification card.
VISIT THE KAMAKURA ATELIER
Kamakura gives KAMAKURA SIGNET its atmosphere: quiet, historical, disciplined, and deeply tactile. Here, each work is designed, carved, and finished in an environment where craft is not a trend, but a way of life. The result is a signet that carries the spirit of place as much as the name it bears.