Yuki Hagiwara:

It has taken more than a century, but Japanese banks are finally parting ways with a piece of technology that hasn’t felt cutting edge since the shogun reigned.

Hanko, the personal stamps required for even simple transactions in Japan since the 1800s, are getting phased out at some of the country’s biggest financial institutions.

This is encouraging news, but I’m not sure how far this will go in eliminating the use of hanko/inkan throughout society. I’m not too bothered by the system myself, but that ivory continues to be used for making them, especially ivory of ‘dubious origin’, is despicable.

Some day when I’m in a particularly good mood, ask about the difference between a ‘sign’ and a signature when signing a document.