Our History
Carving Seals in Kamakura Since 1898
Kamakura Hanko
by KAMAKURA SIGNET
The Masters Behind the HANKO Seal:
The National Legacy of Kamakura Hanko
Our atelier has been passed down through four generations and has created more than 50,000 works. The craft is trusted by major temples and shrines, recognized by public figures, and shaped by artisans holding the highest national certification. What you receive is not a novelty, but a work rooted in cultural continuity and proven mastery.
Kamakura Hanko is not simply a brand; it is a family legacy founded in 1898 in Onarimachi — the refined district of Kamakura that once housed an imperial villa. Our creations are the result of expertise handed down through four generations, embodying the authentic spirit of the ancient capital.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Mastery is not claimed — it is conferred. By the nation, by the sacred, and by those who demand the highest mark of authority: Japan's government, its ministers and temple leaders, and the Grand Champions of sumo. What follows is not a list of claims, but a record.
-
Named by the Government of Japan — introduced to the world on its official channels
-
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Prize — the nation's highest craft honor
-
Japan Heritage — recognized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs
-
A Historic Double Gold — husband and wife, awarded in the same year
-
The Sacred Seals of Kamakura — 43 temple and shrine seals (goshuin)
-
A Gift of State — presented to the Mayor of Nice, Kamakura's sister city
-
Honored by Grand Champions — entrusted by Yokozuna of sumo
-
Featured by a Global Automaker — our master filmed for a documentary seen across Europe
Four Generations of the Carving Hand
The story of KAMAKURA SIGNET is the story of one family. For over a century, the Tsukino family has carved by hand — each generation deepening the craft, until it found its home in Kamakura.
1st — Ryoun Tsukino (b. 1882)
In the temples of Nara, he carved rakkan — the artist's seals that complete a calligraphy work. The union of Buddhist devotion and hand-carving became the root of the Tsukino name.
2nd — Satoshi Tsukino (b. 1910)
He established the family's engraving house in Osaka, creating kissho-in — personal seals composed through cosmology to carry lifelong fortune to the bearer.
3rd — Masaharu Tsukino (b. 1950)
A master of directional cosmology (Happo-igaku) and the written character, he aligned each seal with the harmony of fortune, and widened the craft into fine typography.
4th — Mitsuhiro Tsukino (b. 1980)
Settling in Kamakura, he poured 850 years of the city's history into the Tsukino-in (Moon Signet). With his wife, Chieko, both certified First-Class Seal Engraving Masters, he carves entirely by hand — turning sacred materials into Japanese art of the highest rank.
From a temple in Nara to a master's atelier in Kamakura — one hand, passed down four times.
Endorsed by the Government of Japan
Featured on Japan's official government channels — introduced to the world.
The Government of Japan introduced our atelier to a global audience across its official channels, naming KAMAKURA HANKO directly. In the government's own words, our seals are "beautiful, hand-carved hankos … said to bestow good fortune upon the person carrying them."
When a nation chooses, from all its craftsmen, whose work to show the world, the choice is itself a statement. To be named by Japan's own official voice is a form of recognition no brand can claim for itself — it can only be given.
To own a KAMAKURA SIGNET is to own a craft that Japan chose to present as its own.
See the official post
A Living National Heritage
Kamakura-bori is officially recognized within "Japan Heritage," certified by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs.
Kamakura-bori is more than a traditional craft. It is recognized by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs as part of Japan Heritage — a national designation reserved for the cultural traditions that tell the essential story of Japan. Kamakura-bori belongs to the official heritage narrative of Kamakura itself, "Iza, Kamakura," carrying the soul of the city through the centuries.
Every KAMAKURA SIGNET is carved in this government-recognized tradition. In 2025, the City of Kamakura granted us official use of the Japan Heritage emblem — a formal acknowledgment that our work carries this living legacy.
To acquire one is not simply to own a seal. It is to hold a piece of a tradition the nation itself has chosen to protect, and to pass on.
Masters of the Craft: A Historic Double Gold
The first husband-and-wife artisans to win Gold simultaneously at one of Japan's most respected seal-engraving competitions.
At a prestigious Japanese seal-engraving competition, our two master artisans — Mitsuhiro and Chieko Tsukino — achieved something the contest had never seen before. From a field of 121 entries, Mitsuhiro was awarded Gold for a traditional round wooden seal, and Chieko was awarded Gold for a square wooden seal in ancient script. It was the first time in the competition's history that a husband and wife had each taken Gold in the same year.
Both hold Japan's First-Class National Certification in seal engraving — the highest official rank in the craft, held by only around 100 artisans nationwide, and by only a handful of married couples anywhere in the country.
For us, this is more than an accolade. It is a quiet promise: to preserve the very highest standard of Japanese craftsmanship, and to carry this living tradition — hand to hand, generation to generation — into the future.
Source: At Press
Crowned by the Government of Japan
Awarded the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Prize — the highest honor — among 553 works from across the nation.
At the 63rd national craft competition co-hosted by the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, our Kamakura-bori Tsukino-in — the Moon Signet — received the highest possible distinction in the traditional craft division: the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award.
Chosen from 553 works submitted from across Japan, and honored at a ceremony in Tokyo, this is the nation's foremost recognition in the field. It places our work not as a regional specialty, but as an officially celebrated treasure of Japanese craftsmanship.
To own a KAMAKURA SIGNET is to hold an art form that the nation itself has named the finest of its kind.
Source: The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry
A Historic First: The Sacred Seals of Kamakura
Forty-three works, officially authorized by the City of Kamakura, in collaboration with the Kamakura-Bori Traditional Cooperative.
In a landmark collaboration with the Kamakura-Bori Traditional Cooperative, we achieved a first in the long history of Kamakura: the creation of Kamakura-bori goshuin seals — the carved seals used by temples and shrines to grant their sacred mark to pilgrims.
Authorized as an official initiative of the City of Kamakura, the project took three years of planning and craftsmanship to complete forty-three individual works. Each was formally dedicated to some of Kamakura's most revered temples and shrines — among them Jochi-ji, Goryo Shrine, Hokoku-ji, and Myo-o-in.
These are the seals entrusted with the sacred identity of Japan's holiest places. When you hold a KAMAKURA SIGNET, you hold the work of the very same hands — and the very same tradition — chosen to serve them.
Source: Asahi Shimbun
A Gift of State: Chosen for International Diplomacy
Presented in 2024 to the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Nice, France — Kamakura's Sister City
In April 2024, our Kamakura-bori signet was selected as the official gift presented to Christian Estrosi, then Mayor of Nice, and Deputy Mayor Christian Dinguès Amiel, on the occasion of cultural exchange between our two sister cities.
Hand-carved in our Kamakura atelier, the piece was received with warm appreciation by both leaders — a quiet testament to a craft that speaks across borders, and to a seal worthy of representing one city to another.
When a nation chooses a gift for those it most wishes to honor, it chooses an object that carries meaning beyond its making. That a hand-carved hanko was entrusted with this role reflects what we believe: that a seal is not merely a tool, but a bearer of identity, dignity, and lasting regard.
Honored by Grand Champions
Presented to Yokozuna and tournament champions of Grand Sumo — Japan's sacred national sport.
In Grand Sumo, where centuries of Shinto ritual meet absolute discipline, only the very few ever reach the supreme rank of Yokozuna — Grand Champion. It is among our highest honors that our hand-carved signets have been presented to Yokozuna and tournament champions, in tribute to their victories.
To celebrate the pinnacle of Japan's living tradition, the nation turns to objects worthy of the moment. That our work has been chosen for its most formidable champions speaks to a single truth: a seal of this rank belongs in the hands of those who reach the top.
When you hold a KAMAKURA SIGNET, you hold a mark entrusted to the champions of Japan's most sacred sport.
Source: town news
Featured by a Global Automaker
A leading global carmaker came to our Kamakura atelier to film our master at work, presenting his Takumi craft to Europe and the world.
True craftsmanship crosses every industry. For a documentary series on Japanese artistry, a leading global automaker brought its cameras into our Kamakura atelier to film our master at the blade — presenting his skill as a living example of Takumi, the Japanese mastery of the hand, to audiences across Europe and beyond.
What this world-renowned carmaker saw in our work was its own reflection. It builds under a philosophy of craftsmanship "made in Japan"; our master has carved by hand in Kamakura for a lifetime. Both pursue the same thing — a precision and beauty that only the human hand can reach, and that no machine can replace.
For a global brand to seek out a single artisan, and to place his hands before a worldwide audience, affirms a simple truth: this is craftsmanship recognized at the highest level — not only in Japan, but anywhere mastery is understood.
*As featured in the automaker's documentary series on Japanese craftsmanship.
The Master Collection
Kamakura Vermilion
The seal paste our own masters use.
This is not ink. It is traditional hand-blended neri-shu — a paste of pigment and oil, made in Japan, in a craft that stamp pads and quick-dry inks cannot imitate.
Where ordinary inks dry flat and bright, neri-shu presses deep and dimensional — a rich, dignified red that sits slightly raised on the page. It does not bleed. It does not fade. A century from now, your mark will remain as sharp as the day it was pressed.
It draws out every fine line of a hand-carved seal, and gives the act of pressing your name its proper weight. Finished in a 24K gold-plated case crowned with Japan's chrysanthemum crest, and presented in an original paulownia-wood box — an object made to sit on a desk for a lifetime, and to be handed down.
OUR PRIDE
Kamakura Hanko is one of the most trusted Hanko brands in Japan.
01
Crafted Finish
Nationally certified artisans carefully
carve each Hanko.
Limited to approximately 5 pieces per day.
02
Cultivated History
We have been in business for 4 generations , since 1898.
03
Trusted Skills
We craft Hanko not only for temples and shrines, but for clients across Japan and beyond.
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.