“Hanko” personal seals will no longer be required on marriage and divorce notification forms but are likely to be kept as an option. (Toshiki Horigome)
The central government has resigned itself to realizing that its effort to pry hanko out of the public s hands is unlikely to succeed anytime soon.
So, it has decided to keep allowing the use of the personal seals, though they ll no longer be mandatory.
The space on marriage, divorce and other forms to be submitted to authorities for people to stamp their hanko will likely stay. The compromise comes despite the government s push to eliminate requirements for hanko from administrative formalities.
Ryota Takeda, the communications minister, apologizes at a Feb. 24 news conference when disciplinary measures were announced against ministry officials wined and dined by a satellite broadcaster. (Ryo Kato)
The telecommunications ministry has released the results of its investigation into the wining and dining of bureaucrats by a satellite broadcaster, but it left many questions unanswered, such as why.
The government announced disciplinary measures on Feb. 24 against seven high-ranking bureaucrats in the form of pay cuts ranging from 10 to 20 percent over one to three months, and issued various warnings to four other officials.
Two were warned, according to telecommunications ministry regulations.