Japanese Hanko Generator

Type up to four characters and get a hanko — the personal seal used in Japan in place of a signature — as a transparent, print-resolution PNG. Round or square, vermilion or black, filled or outline. If you don't have your name in Japanese yet, run it through the katakana converter first and bring the result here.

What a hanko actually is

In Japan, documents aren't signed — they're stamped. Every adult owns at least one hanko, and important papers require one registered with the city office. The small red circle you see on Japanese contracts, paintings, and calligraphy is not decoration; it is the legal and artistic equivalent of a signature, pressed in vermilion paste.

That's also why the seal makes such a strong design element: it reads as authentication. A red seal in the corner of artwork says "someone stands behind this" — which is exactly how calligraphers have used it for centuries.

Round or square?

Shape	Traditional role	Best for
Round	Personal seals — the everyday inkan and the registered jitsuin	Your name; anything signature-like
Square	Artistic and studio seals — the kind calligraphers press on finished work	Words, mottos, logos, art corner-marks

A useful convention from the art world: filled (white characters on solid red) reads as formal and final; outline (red characters, open ground) reads lighter and more decorative. Traditional seal carving distinguishes these as 白文 (hakubun) and 朱文 (shubun), and works often carry one of each.

An honest note about the lettering

Real registered seals in Japan are usually cut in 篆書 (tensho) — an ancient script style so stylized it's hard even for Japanese people to read, which is part of its anti-forgery point. No open-licensed tensho font exists, so this tool sets your characters in brush and serif faces instead: what you get is a modern seal, closer to what designers and calligraphers use for artistic stamps than to a bank-registered jitsuin.

For design work, social avatars, and art marks, that's the appropriate style anyway. If you ever need a legally registrable seal in Japan, that's a physical object cut by a shop — a different world, and we'll happily point you in the right direction if you ask.

Ways people use these

• Signature mark — on artwork, pottery, photography watermarks, and email footers.
• Avatar — a name seal makes a distinctive, legible profile icon at small sizes.
• Design element — the red corner-stamp instantly reads "Japanese" without a single cliché. Pair it with text set in our font generator.
• Tattoo reference — seal-in-circle designs are a growing tattoo motif; check the characters first via our four tests.

FAQ

Which characters should I put in it?

Traditionally a hanko carries a family name — but for non-Japanese users, your given name in katakana, a single meaningful kanji (愛, 道, 心), or a short phrase all work. One to two characters look strongest in a round seal; four fill a square beautifully.

Why vermilion and not pure red?

Real seal paste (朱肉, shuniku) is a cinnabar orange-red, not a fire-engine red. Our default matches the paste color — it's the difference between a seal that looks stamped and one that looks like clip art.

Can I use the PNG commercially?

Yes — the output is yours, commercial use included, same as everything our tools generate. The fonts involved are SIL OFL licensed. See our terms for the one-paragraph version.