japan stamp

In Japan, people collect many different things according to their interests. Believe it or not, there are stamp collectors. Not the postage stamps, though.. the stamps I refer in this article are rubber stamps.

In many tourist attractions, such as temples, museums, train stations, and airports across Japan, you can find a corner to stamp your book (or paper, whatever stationery you have) with the unique stamp for commemoration. You can specifically collect themed-related stamps, such as towers all over Japan or JR lines around Tokyo, or just stamp your book with any stamps you can find, just for fun. However, the temples usually need special stamp book called goshuin and you need to follow certain rules.

Anyway, I went to Japan last July and I had my hobonichi techo planner in my bag everywhere I go. Everytime I spotted a stamp corner, I happily got my techo stamped. My sis was also happy to stamp her moleskine. When we went out to seperate locations, we showed all stamps we could get that day after we see each other. My dad also noticed our thing and once he gave me a sheet of paper with a stamp from a train station. 

I really love the idea of stamping the book / planner / travel diary as souvenir. I think a stamp is also mean as a proof of visit. These days we can just snaps some pics to show that we were in such places. But I think, stamp is also quite authentic and unique. Besides, it's more fun to have beautiful stamp when the place is not so instagrammable. 

The above picture is the stamp of Sannomiya Hankyu-line Train Station. Here goes the story behind the stamp. It started when my sis and I needed to go back to our hotel in Kobe from Kyoto. It was already late at night, heavy rain, and we didn't know how bad the weather was. We couldn't get the shinkansen so we took the regular train, got stranded for a while in Osaka train station, followed by late night run to the other side of the station (from JR line to Hankyu line), hurrying to catch the last Hankyu train to Sannomiya station in Kobe. We managed to arrive in Kobe safe and sound. All of those rush and worries were all paid off when we got this stamp.