My New Hanko

What is a hanko?

A Japanese stamp made of wood, stone, or horn, engraved with the name of an individual, office, or institution and used instead of a signature in official transactions. While a hanko or inkan for an official document is made very simple displaying only the name of the owner for business transactions, an artists hanko can be much more inventive. displaying the name of the artist, a pen name, a saying or even an image or motif, this can make each artist’s hanko perfectly unique to each owner, thus making the stamp an official declaration that the painting was designed and painted by the owner of the stamp.

After a long while of waiting I finally got my stamps. It’s a bit unfortunate that the stamps had to be made of rubber rather than made like a traditional hanko stamp made of wood or stone, but I sadly didn’t have the money to pay $60 a stamp, so if ultimately I can save over $50 a stamp I’m okay with making the compromise.

Because I finally got my stamps after months of waiting I can finally start doing ink paintings, calligraphy and overall any designs I make and sign them with my official signature seal. From now on all my designs will most likely get one of these seals on them so they are officially declared my designs.

The stamps made contain these:

1 — circle design

2 — Rounded square
my name Matthew using Kanji
Ma — 真 — True
Su — 習 — Learn
— roughly translated to True dedication to learning

3 — my last name featuring Kanji and katakana
Ku — 来 — Future
Pa — 波 — Wave
クーパー Cooper

4 — Personal Monogram

5 — Last name, first name and Screen name “Polaris” (星Star 龍 Dragon) along with Message
Arigatou — ありがとう — Thank you
Sore Dake De Gambarimasu — それだけで頑張れます — That’s enough for me to keep going

6 — First name and last name large with thank you message.