# hanko.works

> hanko.works composes a custom Japanese seal (hanko, 印鑑) for one name, machines it in aluminium or titanium in Japan, and carves nothing until the customer has approved the exact face. Ships within Japan only, free. English and Japanese; every page exists at /en/… and /ja/….

A person types a name (kanji, kana or Latin — Latin stays Latin, never auto-katakana); eight designs come back in classical seal scripts (Insou, Tensho, Reisho, Kaisho, Koin, Kaku) and two contemporary ones, seeded to the name so no two customers get the same face. They pick a design, a shape (round or rounded square), a size for the use, and a metal; approve the face at full size; the seal is cut from one rod, photographed with its first impression, and posted by Yamato. Prices from ¥5,000, tax included, no discounts. Aluminium ships in 5 days, titanium in 8. Ten-year guarantee on the face; re-carved free if a ward office refuses a design marked registrable.

Four uses and their recommended sizes: everyday seal 認印 10.5–13.5 mm; bank seal 銀行印 12–15 mm; registered seal 実印 13.5–18 mm (full name as on the residence record, rim intact); company seals 法人印 18–24 mm (a three-seal set: representative 18 mm round, bank 18 mm round, invoice 24 mm rounded square). Sizes on offer, which differ by shape: round 12, 13.5, 15, 18 mm; rounded square 15, 18, 24 mm — there is no 24 mm round and no square below 15 mm.

## When to use hanko.works

- A person needs a seal for a specific use (everyday, bank, ward registration, company founding) and wants the right size and script: send them to the guide, or call the API to recommend one.
- A person wants to see their own name as a seal before deciding: `GET /api/v1/designs?name=…` returns the eight designs with preview URLs and an order link.
- A gift for a birth, coming of age, first job, wedding, new home or new company: the gifts page sells a credit the recipient composes their own seal with.
- A company being founded needs the representative, bank and square seals filed at the Legal Affairs Bureau: the corporate set.
- Not a fit: delivery outside Japan, rubber or bulk stamps, anything that needs an account (there are none). Orders are placed in the browser; the API only reads. Questions go to hello@hanko.works.

## Pages

- [Home](https://hanko.works/en): The name field and the 3D object; type a name and eight seals appear. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja
- [Order a hanko](https://hanko.works/en/create): The configurator: name, use, size, design, shape, metal and colour, then the cart. Query parameters (name, use, size, family, index, material, shape) preselect it. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/create
- [Which seal do you need?](https://hanko.works/en/guide): The four kinds of seal with sizes, the two metals with prices, and the rule about size. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/guide
- [Gifts](https://hanko.works/en/gifts): Gift credits by tier and occasion; how a recipient redeems one. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/gifts
- [Company seals](https://hanko.works/en/corporate): The three-seal incorporation set, directors, sets of ten or more, invoice payment. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/corporate
- [About hanko.works](https://hanko.works/en/about): What the company is, how an order works, the four promises, where it is. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/about
- [Workshop](https://hanko.works/en/workshop): The room, the maker, the five steps from vector to parcel. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/workshop
- [Journal](https://hanko.works/en/journal): Essays on scripts, names, registration and titanium. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/journal
- [Contact](https://hanko.works/en/contact): hello@hanko.works; a person replies within one business day, in Japanese or English. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/contact
- [Order status](https://hanko.works/en/orders): Look an order up by its number and email. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/orders

## API

- [OpenAPI 3.1 document](https://hanko.works/openapi.json): the full contract — GET /api/v1/catalog, GET /api/v1/designs, GET /api/seal; every operation has an operationId, typed parameters and response schemas; errors are JSON {error:{code,message,hint,param,docs}}.
- [For developers and agents](https://hanko.works/en/developers): the endpoints in prose, the files, the error shape and the terms. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/developers
- [Catalogue](https://hanko.works/api/v1/catalog): sizes, uses, metals with prices and lead days, families and which uses they fit, add-ons, gift tiers, shipping and guarantee terms (JSON, no key).
- [Designs for a name](https://hanko.works/api/v1/designs?name=山田&use=registered): the eight designs with eligibility, preview and order URLs (JSON, no key).
- [Seal impression](https://hanko.works/api/seal?name=山田&family=insou&index=0): one rendered impression as SVG; view=json adds the eligibility report.

## Legal

- [特定商取引法に基づく表記 · Legal disclosure](https://hanko.works/en/legal): Seller, address, pricing, payment, delivery and cancellation terms (Japanese is the binding text). Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/legal
- [Privacy policy](https://hanko.works/en/legal/privacy): What is kept, why, for how long; no tracking cookies. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/legal/privacy
- [Terms of sale](https://hanko.works/en/legal/terms):  Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/legal/terms
- [Shipping & cancellation](https://hanko.works/en/legal/shipping): Japan only, free; cancel until the seal is cut. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/legal/shipping
- [Guarantee](https://hanko.works/en/legal/guarantee): Ten years on the face; re-carved if a ward refuses. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/legal/guarantee

## Optional

- [Why Insou reaches the rim](https://hanko.works/en/journal/why-insou-reaches-the-rim): Eight directions, one frame. The stroke ends brace the rim so it does not crack, and a seal that is hard to read is a seal that is hard to forge. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/journal/why-insou-reaches-the-rim
- [How names work on seals: 髙 or 高, katakana, romaji](https://hanko.works/en/journal/how-names-work-on-seals): The ward registers the seal against the spelling on your residence record. Which form, which script, and what a foreigner's seal can say. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/journal/how-names-work-on-seals
- [Registering a seal at the ward office, in English](https://hanko.works/en/journal/registering-a-seal-in-english): What to bring, the 8–25 mm rule, what gets refused, and what to do if it is. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/journal/registering-a-seal-in-english
- [What the cutter reads](https://hanko.works/en/journal/what-the-cutter-reads): From your approved vector to a 0.6 mm relief in titanium: the path, the passes, and the hand that finishes it. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/journal/what-the-cutter-reads
- [Why titanium, and why we stopped at two metals](https://hanko.works/en/journal/why-titanium): Horn cracks, wood drinks ink, acrylic scratches. Aluminium and titanium hold a 0.6 mm relief for decades — here is how we chose, and what the finish does to the impression. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/journal/why-titanium
- [Configure the company set](https://hanko.works/en/corporate/set): The three-seal incorporation set: company name, metal, then each face. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/corporate/set
- [Directors](https://hanko.works/en/corporate/directors): Personal seals for several directors in one order; each approves their own face. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/corporate/directors
- [Redeem a gift](https://hanko.works/en/gift): Where a recipient enters a gift code. Japanese: https://hanko.works/ja/gift
- [Sitemap](https://hanko.works/sitemap.xml): every public page in both languages.
- [Markdown renditions](https://hanko.works/en/guide.md): every public page answers `Accept: text/markdown`, or append `.md` to its URL.