Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 193, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 August 1914 — SEAL UNIVERSAL IN JAPAN [ARTICLE]

SEAL UNIVERSAL IN JAPAN

Law Require* That Each Individual Have Hie Device Registered in Government Office. Since Japanese law requires that each individual should send in an impression of his seal as a specimencalled jltsu-ln—to have it registered and kept in a government office, that it may represent him in deed, it follows that every Japanese must have a seal. These seals,are of wood, stone or metal, with signs engraved on the face. They are used in addition to a signature to represent an individual, a legal person or a corporation. The seals of the present emperor are distinguished as privy and state seals. They are each three inches square. The state seal is used for the most part upon documents relating to foreign countries and has Chinese char actess engraved upon it; the privy seals are stamped on imperial rescripts, issued for proclamations at -home. There We two ways of engraving characters on i seal, relief and intaglio. In the one the characters la the impression are shown in color, while in the other they are represented in white on colored ground. The ink used for stamping is gene' erally of vermilion red. The cheapest of the Japanese seals are made of boxwood, and are sold at five cents each. Most seels are oval in shape, but some are round and others square. They rarely exceed one-half inch in diameter.