Glossary
Jitsuin (registered personal seal)
Your officially registered personal seal, used to sign binding documents like the purchase contract and registration papers.
In Japan a registered seal carries the legal weight a signature does in the West. The jitsuin is the specific seal you have registered with your local municipal office; an unregistered everyday seal (mitomein) will not do for a property purchase. You prove it is genuine with a seal registration certificate (inkan shomeisho) issued by the city, which the shiho-shoshi will require alongside the registration paperwork. Foreign buyers can register a jitsuin once they have a residence record, and those buying from overseas without one typically substitute a notarized signature affidavit, arranged in advance through the judicial scrivener.