Hanko to Hall St, MI, USA

I have recently been working with Mata Sensei from the Kyoseikan Dojo, who was inquiring about a Hanko for Grand Rapids Aikikai.
I was sent an image of what they required for their Hanko.

The first two lines read Grand Rapids and the bottom line reads Aikikai.
The first two kanji are the first two kanji from"Aikido" a relatively modern martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba, the last Kanji "Kai" means association.

I often exchange a few mails with clients to ensure they get the best design. In this case my comments were that a normal layout for a Hanko would be vertical text reading right to left.
The next comment regarded the Kanji for "ki" it was different from my stock kanji, but after a little bit of research I found both were commonly used.

Comparison of the two versions of Aikikai

Ki 気 is the modern kanji and the older form was 氣. This original version combined a radical 气 meaning steam or breath and the kanji for rice 米. Putting these together represented the vapour that rises from rice when you cook it; and this had connotations of life-giving or vital energy, with rice being such an important staple food. This old kanji is the one that O Sensei used in his own calligraphy. The modern version is simplified: 気.

Below is a table of prices for our Personal and Business stamps, we also do many custom sizes to match your needs, just drop us an E Mail to sotosabisu@btinternet with some outline details of your requirements. Delivery to the UK is approx. 7 to 10 days and Worldwide 10 to 14 days from approval of design and payment. Current costings can be found in the relevant shop page please click on the button below to view.

"Click" to go to - Hanko and Inkan section shop page

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A Nafudakake for Ji-Sei-Kan Karate-Do

A short while back we were approached by Ji-Sei-Kan Karate-Do to commission a Nafudakake for a Christmas present for their chief instructor.
They wanted to incorporate the shotokan tiger, the club name and their instructors rank and name.
Wherever possible we use existing translations that an individual may have from a dan grade certificate or translation in kanji of the club or association. However on this occasion no translations were available.

Starting from the right hand side is the Shotokan tiger. We used a high resolution stock image and changed the colour of the vectors to red and centralised the design to the Nafuda.

Where possible we will assist where we can with translations and on this occassion we used the Kanji for Jisei which means "self control".

The instructor's name was translated into katakana which is the kana used for foreign words.

If you are thinking about commissioning a nafudanake please remember that our nafudakake are all custom made and take 4 to 6 weeks to produce. If you would like to make an inquiry just send an E mail to sotosabisu@btinternet.com with some outline details of your requirements. Current costings can be found in the relevant shop page please click on the button below to view.

"Click" to go to - Nafuda section shop page

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Walsall Karate Dojo celebrate 20th Anniversary

We were recently contacted by the Yudansha of Walsall Karate Dojo and asked if we could produce a plaque to celebrate the clubs 20th Anniversary.
We worked with them and produced a couple of designs.

The photo shows the plaque just before dispatch. The plaque was larger than most of our commissions (600 x 400mm) and needed to be in a single piece rather than in nafuda sections. We used a 12mm mdf board with a maple veneer and balancer, the board was sanded to 320 grade and a couple of coats of sanding sealer applied before it was french polished and the graphics applied.
It has taken a couple of weeks, very happy with the end result.

If you have a project in mind just drop us an E Mail to sotosabisu@btinternet.com with a brief outline and we will help you work up the design and provide you a quotation. Current costings can be found in the relevant shop page please click on the button below to view.

"Click" to go to - Plaques and Name Board section shop page

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The AKA celebrate Williams Sensei's promotion to Godan

We were recently commissioned to produce a Nafudakake to celebrate many years of dedication to Karate and promotion to Godan of Keith Williams Sensei from the Applied Karate Association.

The client selected a maple hardwood for the nafuda which forms a striking contrast to our standard black frame. This is proving to be the most popular combination giving high definition to both text and logos.
The logo provided was not in a format that could be loaded directly into our graphic design package and required some re-modelling and complete insertion of both kanji and English text. We managed to achieve a very high quality reproduction in a vector format which can now be increased to any size without loosing quality or pixelating.

Graphic design for the AKA Nafuda

Detailed design of the re-worked AKA logo

Soto Sabisu send our congratulations to Williams Sensei and happy New Year to all at the AKA, Osu!

If you are thinking about commissioning a nafudanake please remember that our nafudakake are all custom made and take 4 to 6 weeks to produce. If you would like to make an inquiry just send an E mail to sotosabisu@btinternet.com with some outline details of your requirements. Current costings can be found in the relevant shop page please click on the button below to view.

"Click" to go to - Nafuda section shop page

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Virtual Nafudakake - Leeds Shotokan Elite Karate

We have recently completed a "Virtual Nafudakake" for Leeds Shotokan Elite Karate.

The club provided us with the names and grades and we undertook the translation into Katakana and Kanji. The image was sent to the club as a pdf and jpeg file in both low and high resolution so their "webmaster" can add it to their website.

We also provided the club with support developing their logo which was also incorporated into the design. If there is only minor graphic design from a High Resolution image that you provide there is no additional charge. If we have to build your logo from scratch a small charge will apply to cover our additional time.

You can choose from our "Block" or "Brush" font and add the name of your instructor / members. We can use an existing translation from a dan grade certificate or provide a translation for you.

The cost of a virtual nafudakake is only £4.95 per nafuda and when new members join just send us their details and we will update your nafudakake for just the cost of the new nafuda.
After gradings you will want to keep your Virtual nafudakake up to date, E Mail Soto Sabisu the details and we will get them changed and E Mail back your update "Virtual Nafudakake".

As an example, this virtual nafudakake contains 9 nafuda, so 9*£4.95 = £44.55,
If you order a virtual nafudakake at the same time as ordering an "actual" nafudakake we will apply a 50% discount to the virtual version.

Virtual Nafudakake
Cost per Nafuda	£4.95
Virtual Nafudakake Updates
Up to 15 changes in grade	£4.95
Unlimited changes in grade	£9.95

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Oval Inkan

We were recently asked to produce an Inkan with both Christian and Surname.
This would not be a normal Japanese format but we are able to meet most custom requests from clients.
The names were translated into Katakana and the graphic design for the stamp was developed.
The design did not fit well into either a round or square format so we suggested to our client that they consider a traditional oval format and supplied a proof for their consideration.

Graphic design proof

Completed Inkan and test stamp prior to dispatch

We have added the Oval Inkan to our range (full details below)
The 16 x 11mm format allows for a few more kana to fit in a two column layout.
The price detailed allows for up to 12 kana but a couple more could be added at an additional £1.50 per kana if required.

If you would like to place an order for an Inkan or Hanko follow the links at the base of the table above to view more examples. Consider your options on size and design etc and then just drop us an E Mail to sotosabisu@btinternet.com with your requirements and we will work up a graphic design for you. Current costings can be found in the relevant shop page please click on the button below to view.

"Click" to go to - Hanko and Inkan section shop page

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The benefits of Brexit

There is always a positive, you just have to look for it.

Here in England we are suffering for an extremely poor currency exchange rate at the moment.
Post our Brexit vote I purchased a dogi from Hirota in Japan and paid about twenty percent more than what I would normally expect to pay. However poor buying power for me may mean excellent purchasing power for you if you are outside the UK with a strong currency.

We have just shipped a commission out to the US where our client benefited greatly from the current exchange rate.

The Nafudakake was a little different from the majority of commissions.

Our client wanted to incorporate the Shotokan tiger his name and the four international associations that he was a member of. He also wanted to use just kana on the nafuda, which is something we regularly do for Japanese and high ranking recipients.

The four groups our client was a member of were The International Shotokan Ryu Karate-do Shihankai, The World Japan Karate-do Association, The Karate of Japan Federation International and The International Society of Okinawan and Japanese Karate-do.

Our Nafudakake are all custom made and take 4 to 6 weeks to produce. 

The example above was £210+ £35 shipping to the US. Our client used transfer wise with a rate of 1 USD = 0.7712 GBP with a small fee of $3.18..... Courtesy of the benefits of Brexit here in England.

If you would like to make an inquiry just send an E mail to sotosabisu@btinternet.com with some outline details of your requirements. Current costings can be found in the relevant shop page please click on the button below to view.

"Click" to go to - Nafuda section shop page

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If you are accessing this site on your phone you may wish to view the "Web version" and access the menu in the side-bar to navigate. Just scroll down for the link.