Three Hanko Tiers: Jitsuin, Ginko-in, and Mitome-in
Hanko types in Japan sort into three tiers with different registration places and different legal weight. The 実印 (jitsuin, "registered seal") is recorded at your municipal office, the 銀行印 (ginkōin, "bank seal") is recorded at one specific bank, and the 認印 (mitomein, "everyday seal") is recorded nowhere.1
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at your local municipal office, such as the Minato City seal registration counter.
Overview
A hanko (also called inkan) is a carved personal seal pressed in red ink as Japan's equivalent of a signature. Residents commonly hold three of them, one per tier, because the tiers cannot always substitute for one another.1
The rest of this article keeps the three apart: what each registration confers, where each is required, and which seals a foreign resident needs in what order. The registration counter procedure itself lives in the companion article on seal registration.
The three tiers at a glance
| Tier | Registered with | Carries legal weight | Typical uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 実印 (jitsuin, "registered seal") | Municipal office, paired with a certificate12 | Yes, highest3 | Real estate, vehicle purchase, loans, wills1 |
| 銀行印 (ginkōin, "bank seal") | One specific bank14 | Within that bank only3 | Counter withdrawals, account changes5 |
| 認印 (mitomein, "everyday seal") | Nowhere14 | No | Parcel receipts, routine forms, internal memos14 |
The table above is the whole system in miniature. Everything below explains one row at a time.
Jitsuin: the registered seal
The jitsuin is the only seal with formal legal standing. What gives it weight is not the object but the record: the municipal office keeps your seal impression on file, and the 印鑑登録証明書 (inkan tōroku shōmeisho, "seal registration certificate") proves that the impression on a document is yours.12
What registration adds
Anyone aged 15 or older, including legally residing foreign nationals, may register a seal at city hall.16 After registration you receive a registration card, and each certificate you print from it vouches for one specific impression.
That certificate is the point. In high-stakes transactions the counterparty checks your seal against a current certificate, which is why guides describe the jitsuin plus certificate as the closest thing Japan has to a notarized signature.3
Daily stamping wears the carving, risks loss, and exposes the impression to copying. Keep the registered seal stored and bring it out only when a procedure specifically calls for it.5
Where a jitsuin is required
Expect the jitsuin for real-estate transactions, vehicle purchase and title transfer, loans, and wills or certain notarized procedures.1 A mitomein or ginkoin offered in these situations will be refused, since institutions accept no substitute where a registered seal is specified.5
Ginko-in: the bank seal
Your ginkoin is a personal seal you register with one bank for that bank's transactions. The bank keeps the impression on file, and later counter transactions are verified against it. Even a slight mismatch stops the transaction.5
How bank registration differs from ward registration
Bank registration creates no government certificate and confers no authority outside that bank. Its authority starts and ends at the counter where it is registered, so it never substitutes for a jitsuin in property deals or government filings.3
Because the impression is the identity reference, the seal should be uniquely engraved rather than mass-produced. A cheap ready-made seal works as an everyday seal but is the wrong tool to register with a bank.45
Signature alternatives at banks
Most online banks are seal-free and run on signatures, the megabanks let foreigners register a signature instead of a seal, and some traditional branches still default to asking for one (as of 2026-02; confirm current practice with your bank).57 Implementation varies by branch, so what one branch accepts another may refuse.5
Mitome-in: the everyday seal
The mitomein is the workhorse. It is unregistered, used for low-stakes confirmations, and the seal most residents touch most often: parcel and postal receipts, application forms at city hall, internal office documents, and casual paperwork.14
What it covers and what it never covers
Mass-produced ready-made seals, including the cheap stamps sold at stationery stores and 100-yen shops, serve as mitomein.12 They carry no identity verification power, since thousands of people share the same design, so they never cover leases, loans, or anything a procedure marks as requiring a registered seal.3
For almost any situation where a mitomein is needed, a simple signature suffices instead.4 New arrivals unsure how long they will stay can reasonably start with signatures and add seals as procedures demand them.
Which seals a foreign resident actually needs
Sequence matters more than shopping. Register your address first, because seal registration requires an established resident record. Then acquire seals in the order procedures demand them.5
A new resident needs a mitomein (or just a signature) for daily life first. A ginkoin follows when a traditional bank requires one for the account. A jitsuin becomes necessary only when property, a vehicle, or a major legal agreement enters the picture.5
Keep the jitsuin and ginkoin as unique, separately stored seals. The mitomein can be the simple cheap one, since it is replaceable in minutes at any stationery shop.45
Good to know
Keep the jitsuin and ginko-in physically separate
Using one seal for everything concentrates risk in a single object. Losing it means cancelling a registration and re-registering a bank reference at the same time, while keeping them apart makes each problem solvable on its own.5
A cheap ready-made seal is a mitome-in only
Ready-made seals share identical impressions across thousands of buyers and are typically rubber, which deforms. Registration rules refuse both properties, so no bargain stamp graduates into a higher tier no matter how official it looks.45
Registration requires a resident record first
Only registered residents can register a seal, so address registration at the ward office precedes seal registration in every case. Ward rules on acceptable seals also vary, so confirm your municipality's format rules before paying for an engraving.65
See also
- Hanko vs. Signature for Bank Operations
- Bank Account Opening Documents in Japan
- Hanko and Signature for Delivery Receipts
- The Post-2020 Anti-Hanko Reform