No hanko needed: Telework forces rethink of Japan's personal stamps

Die-hard practice becomes impractical as people are urged to work from home

20200406N stamps

Many businesses and local governments still require official documents to have a hanko seal and not written signatures.

YUTA SHIMAMOTO, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- Abandoning the long-standing business practice of hand-stamping documents is among the changes Japan's ruling party is pushing as the coronavirus pandemic forces people to work from home. 

A Liberal Democratic Party task force on Monday submitted a list of recommendations that would help businesses, health care facilities and schools operate online as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepares to declare a state of emergency.

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