Tuesday, May 19, 2020

What is “Hanko” in news recently?


The Hanko is a personal stamp of Japan. It is equivalent to signature in other countries. The tradition is gaining criticism in Japan post COVID-19 period.

What is the issue?

  • Japan is adopting work from home culture aggressively in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • However, the age old Hanko tradition of Japan is forcing the employees to go to the office premises for security reasons.
  • Hence, the Hanko tradition is being criticized in the country widely.

Hanko

  • Hanko stamping is essential in Japan for several transactions. 
  • There are specific types of Hanko stampings such as circular and square. 
  • They are mandatory in bank documents, government authorization and even in several day to day activities.
  • The Stamp is set wet by an ink pad called ‘Shuniku’. 
  • The mark that it leaves on document is called ‘inkan’

Tradition

  • The use of Hanko is a two millennium old tradition that was used to identify individuals that are involved in government agencies. 
  • Baiwen is also a Japanese seal. It has red background and white characters.

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