[/floatl]Mobile Ojisan: A futile effort to prop up the hopeless hanko system?
...Every Japanese person has to possess several different hankos, starting from the impressive-looking registered seal of stone or ivory, down to everyday plastic hanko bought at 100-yen shop. The seams of this hanko identification system are in danger of coming apart, recently. Yes, digital fraud is shaking the system from the bottom. Door-picking artist quietly breaks and enters victim's house and nicks bank account passbook. The passbook, especially old ones, usually carries the seal image on the first page. The joker scans this image and prints it on the withdrawal slip with color printer. The bank teller accepts this slip and passbook as authentic, and victim's account will be emptied...The real cause of trouble: It's the stamped image of one's hanko that is stored in the databases of goverment offices, banks and other public institutions...Well, somebody is trying to prop up this basically hopeless hanko system. Mitsubishi Pencil has released a hanko with incorporated security function...This stainless steel hanko has two cylindrical dials in its shaft, yes, not unlike the bicycle number lock. Each dial has eight positions. Altogether, there are 64 combinations...Mitsubishi Pencil recommends Dial Bank Hanko only for bank use. Some local government outright refuses to register this metal hanko as one's personal seal...more...
