Traditional Crafts, Handmade in Japan

The Japanese Connection was conceived as a means to expand the visibility of Japan's vast heritage of fading arts and crafts beyond Japan and into the Western world. The Japanese artists represented by the Japanese Connection have been carefully selected, through recommendations and research, as leading representatives of the artisans and craftspeople who still adhere to the venerable arts and crafts traditions that have withstood the test of centuries in Japan.

Hankos From The Japanese Connection

The Japanese hanko is a seal, sometimes called a "chop", made from materials such as horn, wood or stone, and is imprinted with the bearer's name or title, a favorite virtue, a creed, an organization's name, and sometimes even graphic artwork. It is used for a multitude of purposes, including authorizing legal transactions for individuals and organizations, signing artwork, and certifying achievements in sports, artistry, vocation, etc. The Japanese impression of a hanko is virtually synonymous with the Western signature.

Hankos were formally introduced to Japan in 701 AD, but were available only to those in positions of high authority. During the early to mid-seventeenth century, the general populace adopted hankos. Interestingly, the common people of Japan were not allowed to have family names until the late nineteenth century, so there must have been much confusion with hankos prior to this time with so many people having the same name.

The hankos sold by the Japanese Connection are made by Kitaji-san, whose hanko business was begun by his great, great grandfather, 126 years ago. The founder was a samurai who became master-less (a ronin) by the new drive of the Japanese government to shed its old feudal ways and open the country to Western ideas. He took a job in a government print shop and soon became skilled enough to start a private enterprise. Eventually, he focused mostly on creating hankos.

The modern Kitaji-san's business, although very successful, still sells only hand-carved hankos, in spite of the advent of sophisticated carving machines. Because there are tens of thousands of names and thousands of styles, Kitaji-san has found that every hanko that he makes is unique. Making these seals by hand is a long, labor-intensive process. After designing the face of the hanko, the material is locked into a vice and carved over a period of many hours by one of Kitaji-san's highly skilled craftspeople.

Kitaji-san sells mostly to Japanese, but he says an increasing number of Westerners are discovering and purchasing hankos. It is a bit of good news for a craft that, like so many other traditional Japanese crafts, is increasingly threatened by a technological movement that would do away with the need for the time-honored impression of a hanko.

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