Kamakura: Meet a 4th-Gen Hanko Master & Create Your Name Seal
- 1 hour
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- 2 languages
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
1. Meet a Fourth-Generation Master Visit a working Kamakura atelier with a family craft dating back to 1898. Discuss your name directly with the craftsman in English. 2. See Award-Winning Craft View award-winning engravings and tools. Both husband and wife hold Japan’s First-Grade National Trade Skill Certification. 3. Watch a Live Demonstration See traditional engraving techniques up close and ask the craftsman questions. 4. Carve and Stamp a Stone Seal Carve one character with guidance, stamp a keepsake card, and take both home right after the workshop. 5. Design Your Name Hanko A wooden katakana hanko, hand-finished after the session, is included. Collect it at the atelier about four hours later, that afternoon. Kanji and upgrades cost extra. 6. A Small, Unhurried Morning Enjoy a small-group experience in a private atelier setting. Your host, a Zen monk and engraver, creates each seal with good wishes for its owner.
Inclusions
What's included
- Personal seal (hanko) carved by a master engraver — your name, made to order, yours to take home
- Stone seal you carve yourself, with guidance from the craftsman
- English guidance throughout
- Calligraphy you write, to take home
- Original pouch
What's not
- Upgraded materials: buffalo horn, premium woods, gemstone
- Kanji engraving / typeface upgrade
- HANKO case
- Red INK
- Shipping (if you prefer not to collect the same afternoon)
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
5.0
- 526
- 40
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- 10
Ratings come from 26 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Showing reviews written in English.
5A beautiful hanko in katakana
I’m studying Japanese, so I decided to go with my name in katakana rather than having kanji made up for me. I was a little unsure at first, since kanji generally look more impressive, and I wasn’t sure how the katakana would turn out. But I absolutely love how my hanko turned out — it’s beautiful! It's a unique and lovely souvenir from my first trip to Japan, and something I’ll definitely treasure. Highly recommend this experience!
5Enjoyed the entire...
Enjoyed the entire experience. From the explanation of the history of hanko stamps to them helping me to actually pick out and customize the Kanji for my name, absolutely fantastic.
5Intimate and Educational
Very educational and fun. It was so interesting learning about Hanko history and going throughout the process to design our own personal stamp.
5Great experience!!!
This includes the most basic hanko... which is a hreat thing. You can upgrade the case and the material that hankos are msde of. The experience itself is amazing. The owner explains everything and answers every question that you make. This experience let's you know a bit more about the importance of the use of hankos to japanese people and different types of hanko out there
5Amazing experience
It was amazing and suck a fun experience. The store was so easy to find. The customer service was amazing, they were so helpful
5Don’t miss
This was such a beautiful, intimate and informative service. The owner is third generation and does exquisite work.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- Just 55 min from Tokyo, 20 min from Yokohama, and a 2-min walk from JR Kamakura Station's West Exit. Turn left, walk down Onari Street, then left at the first large 5-way intersection; we are on the right. Please be punctual — your seal is prepared in advance, and sessions are morning only.
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Operated by
- Name of Japan. Kamakura HANKO
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
How it compares in Kamakura
- Its from-price is 66% above the median of the 117 experiences we list in Kamakura.
- It is shorter than most of them.
- By number of reviews it ranks 10 of 117.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Kamakura
Kamakura is a coastal town south of Yokohama, once Japan's samurai capital, known for the Great Buddha, Zen temples and surf beaches.
Kamakura was the seat of the first samurai government, from the late twelfth to the early fourteenth century, and its hills still hide dozens of temples and shrines. The Great Buddha at Kotoku-in, a bronze figure about eleven metres high, sits in the open air, and the broad avenue of Wakamiya leads from the beach to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, the town's main shrine. Hasedera temple has a tall wooden statue of Kannon and a terraced garden above the sea.
Top-ranked sights in Kamakura: Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.
Special offers in Kamakura
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
