In Days In The Past,

often stamps made of ivory or engraved rings were used to seal or sign documents,

 a practice that is still used in Japan today, and you can buy them ready made to use, above hanko as they are called in a shop, photograph by istock.com/TokioMarineLife, there are three common types used by both individuals and corporations. The jitsu-in (実印), ginko-in (銀行印) and mitome-in (認印), if you click onto the hanko link above you can find out more about each, it is a surprisingly interesting read, but here is the problem, 

 times have been difficult for Japan’s hanko, technology has been rendering the system obsolete and a work-from-home environment triggered by the global pandemic has only accelerated this phase-out, but it’s a beautiful tradition. And in order to rethink the hanko’s place in modern society, stationery company Shachihata has released a new line of hanko ink, normally just red or black, in beautiful, lush colors inspired by nature, 

it should be pointed out that Hanko ink, above, is known as shuniku (朱肉) in Japan and was has traditionally been the auspicious color of vermilion, but by substituting it with a gradient palette, hanko stamps are rendered in different colors depending on which area of the pad they absorb ink from,

 the new line of hanko ink was actually born from a design contest that the stationery company hosted last year in order to solicit ideas from the public. Designer Satoru Utashiro sent in his idea for a new line of hanko ink called watashi no iro, or “my colors,” which ended up winning first prize. In fact, the company was impressed enough to commercialize the product, which just went on sale July 1,

 and here are the new colors with an idea of what in nature created them,

  that is very familiar to Japan, above, ocean, citrus and nishikigoi (or koi fish), 

 forest, 

 and camellia flowers,

the company decided to test the market with their new line of hanko ink by only producing 20 quantities of each color, which predictably sold out almost immediately, hopefully the strong response will be enough to convince them to produce more, and help save this almost unique part of Japanese culture.