Interview

Mutsuko Ito began her career in inkan seal engraving when she took up the craft from her father upon graduating high school. She can wield her seal-engraving knife as adeptly as if it were an extension of her fingers, and has taken pride in crafting seals that last for decades. However, the changing tides of time have seen machine-carved inkan fill the market, which has left her wondering: is an insipid carbon copy really good enough for something with such life-defining importance as an inkan?
It was around that time that a broom craftsman acquaintance mentioned to Ito that “They used to make inkan from twigs of tea shrubs,” and the idea for koeda-in, or “twig seals” came to her in a flash of inspiration. These twig seals would be made of natural wood, engraved with images of flora or fauna, and feature the bearer’s name. They could even be used as an official seal for bank transactions. At first, Ito engraved them only with the name of the bearer, but when a seal featuring an illustration—which she had done by special request from an acquaintance—caught the eye of a customer, word spread quickly. These one-of-a-kind twig seals became a hit, and now orders come in from all over the country. Says Ito, “Future demand for inkan may be on the decline, but there’s definitely a demand for twig seals in the modern era so they just might be able to stand the test of time. ”