Can a foreign resident register a seal in Japan on the same day? — What trips people up is not the seal but the spelling of the name

Yes, the same day. Go to the counter in person with your residence card and the registration is done on the spot, with the certificate issued that day. What trips people up is not the seal but the spelling of the name. A seal showing a form of your name that is not on your residence record cannot be registered.

This page is written on the basis of how Bunkyo-ku does it. Wards do not always handle this the same way, so for a property in another ward, check with that ward's own counter. The sale process as a whole is set out in our feature on selling property before leaving Japan.

Last updated: ◯ ◯◯ 2026

Why do you need a registered seal in order to sell?

Because the registration of transfer of ownership requires a certificate of registered seal.

On the day of completion, the judicial scrivener (shiho-shoshi) verifies the seller's identity and then applies for the registration of transfer of ownership that same day. One of the documents the seller hands over is the certificate of registered seal. No seal registration, no certificate. No certificate, no completion day.

Plenty of people who have lived in Japan for years have never registered a seal, because renting simply never calls for one. The seal you own and the seal you have registered are two different things, and an unregistered seal is not a registered seal (jitsuin).

Can it really be done the same day?

It can. Go to the counter yourself and show a valid residence card (or a My Number Card, driving licence, passport, special permanent resident certificate, or other photographic identification issued by a public authority), and the registration is completed on the spot and the certificate of registered seal issued that day (Bunkyo-ku).

If you send an agent, or if you have no photographic identification, the process switches to an exchange of enquiry letters by post, which takes days. With a departure date approaching, going yourself is the surer route.

So why are some people turned away at the counter?

Because what trips them up is the name, not the seal. This is the heart of the article.

Under Bunkyo-ku's criteria, only the following may be registered.

a seal showing the surname, given name, full name or alias recorded in the Basic Resident Register

And for foreign nationals the ward states:

Foreign nationals wishing to register a seal in Latin letters, kanji, an alias or katakana may do so only if that form is recorded on the residence record.

In other words, the only thing that can be carved on the seal is a form of the name that appears on your residence record.

Where it commonly goes wrong

Situation	What happens
The residence card is in Latin letters. A kanji seal has been prepared	Unless kanji have been added to the residence record, it cannot be registered
An everyday katakana alias is used. A katakana seal has been prepared	Unless the alias or the katakana form is on the residence record, it cannot be registered
The holder comes from a kanji-using country and the residence card carries kanji	It can be registered if the kanji are on the residence record as well
The name is long, so only part of it was carved	Acceptable if it shows the surname, the given name or the full name. An abbreviation of your own devising is not

Check your residence record first. If an additional entry is needed, deal with the residence record before the seal registration. Skip that step and you will be told at the counter that the seal cannot be registered, and you will have to come back another day.

Which seals cannot be registered?

These are the ones Bunkyo-ku lists.

Seals that cannot be registered
Seals made with characters not recorded on the residence record — kanji replaced by hiragana or katakana, or the reverse, or rewritten as different characters
Seals that also show an occupation, a qualification or any other such matter
Rubber stamps, rings and other things that lose their shape easily
Reverse-carved seals and others whose impression is apt to be unclear
Seals whose characters are hard to read, or whose strokes are broken
Seals with no outer frame, or with a broken outer frame

There are rules on size as well.

Item	Standard
Size	More than 8mm across, and fitting within a 25mm square
Number	One per person. Members of the same household cannot share a single seal

And there is a caution.

Ready-made seals sold over the counter (sanmonban) are not suitable as registered seals, because anyone can obtain an identical one.

A hundred-yen-shop seal may technically get through, but we would not recommend one as the registered seal for selling a property. Anyone can buy the same thing.

How should you sequence this before you leave?

Order	What to do	Timing
1	Obtain your residence record and check which form of your name it currently carries	Today
2	If the form you want carved is not there, apply for the additional entry on the residence record	The sooner the better
3	Have the seal made (carved, not ready-made)	A few days to a week
4	Go to the ward office with your residence card. Same-day registration, same-day certificate	Before completion
5	Obtain the certificate of registered seal (two copies is the safer course)	Before you file your moving-out notification

Line 5 is the one that matters. Once you file the moving-out notification and your residence registration ends, the seal registration lapses with it and the certificate can no longer be obtained. After you have left, the substitute is a signature certificate from a Japanese embassy or consulate, which means an appointment and a journey. Get the certificate before your residence record is closed.

Who should you ask?

Whether a seal can be registered is for the ward counter to decide. A telephone call before you have the seal carved is much the quickest route.

Who	What to ask
The ward office (Family Register and Residents Division)	The form of the name on your residence record, whether the seal can be registered, and the conditions for same-day registration
A judicial scrivener, with whom you contract directly	Identity verification on completion day, and the application for registration of transfer of ownership
Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd.	Brokerage on the sale. Scheduling worked backwards from your departure date. A point of contact in Japanese, English and Chinese

For Bunkyo-ku, that is the Resident Records Section, Family Register and Residents Division, Citizens Department (03-5803-1177).

We cannot act as your agent for a registration application — that is the work of a judicial scrivener. We introduce you to one, and you contract with them directly. We receive no referral fee.

What this article is based on

Point	Source
Seals that may be registered (showing the surname, given name, full name or alias recorded in the Basic Resident Register; more than 8mm across and fitting within a 25mm square; one per person, not shared within a household)	Bunkyo-ku, "About the seal to be registered" (updated 29 July 2022)
That a foreign national registering in Latin letters, kanji, an alias or katakana may do so only if that form is recorded on the residence record	Same source
Seals that cannot be registered (characters not on the residence record; occupation or qualification also shown; rubber stamps, rings and the like; reverse carving; hard to read; no outer frame or a broken one)	Same source
That ready-made seals (sanmonban) are unsuitable as registered seals	Same source
The conditions for same-day registration (attendance in person, on production of a valid My Number Card, driving licence, passport, residence card, special permanent resident certificate, or photographic identification issued by a public authority)	Bunkyo-ku, "Application for seal registration"
The application for registration of transfer of ownership	Real Property Registration Act. Acting as agent for a registration application is the work of a judicial scrivener

This page provides general information based on how Bunkyo-ku does it. Seal registration is not necessarily handled in the same way from one municipality to another. For a property in another ward, check with that ward's own counter. Individual registration procedures are carried out by a judicial scrivener.

Real estate brokerage is handled by Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. (Real Estate Brokerage Business Licence, Governor of Tokyo (1) No. 113304), and the preparation of documents for licence and permit applications by Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office (gyosei-shoshi), under a separate contract in each case. For registrations we introduce you to a judicial scrivener and for tax matters to a licensed tax accountant, and you contract with each of them directly. We receive no referral fee.

About the author Joji Uramatsu | Representative Director of Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. and its full-time Real Estate Transaction Specialist (takken-shi). Administrative scrivener. Former China Bureau Chief of the Mainichi Shimbun, with 34 years as a journalist; posted to China, Taiwan and Thailand in that role. Passed the Certified Social Insurance and Labour Consultant examination (practice scheduled to open September 2026).

Related links

• Feature: selling your property before you leave Japan
• If you are handing over a power of attorney and going home, what should it say?
• What happens if the address on the register is still your old one?
• Property search for non-Japanese residents, in several languages
• Contact us