Telework? Japan still wants stamps on the dotted line

Apr 03, 2020 | News On Japan

Apr 03, 2020 (Nikkei) - The Japanese business practice of signing off on documents with a personal seal poses an obstacle in efforts to adopt telecommuting amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite efforts to address the problem, only slightly more than 40% of Japanese corporations have digitized contracts even partially, according to a survey on information technology usage released in March by JIPDEC and ITR. Fewer than 30% have configured computer systems or put rules in place to allow for telework.

Even if companies digitize documents, many managers must come to the office to stamp them because internal regulations bar them from taking home their hanko -- the carved stamps used in lieu of signatures.

Creating a telework-friendly environment is a crucial issue as the government moves to draw up emergency economic measures. It hopes to make rapid progress on such fronts as establishing a framework for authenticating contracts.

Chat app operator Line still relies on paper and hanko. Various departments have asked the legal team to quickly digitize contracts. Line enters into well over 1,000 contracts every month, according to legal department head Masamichi Yamamoto -- each must be stamped with a hanko.

So employees involved in contracts have no choice but to come in even if urged to work from home. Line's legal department has accelerated the introduction of an electronic contract system, which started last June, and will initially shift about 30 contracts away from paper before the Golden Week holidays of early May.

A worker handling legal affairs at an agricultural startup said that creating a contract, stamping it with a hanko, affixing a revenue stamp, mailing it to the other party to have it stamped with a hanko, and having it mailed back takes a week. The source, who sometimes needs to come in on weekends, expressed hope that e-contracts will be introduced to improve productivity.

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