Stamp Rally

Have you heard of stamp rally in Japan? It’s one of my favourite things, and the bane of Super Sake Boy’s life. If you’re planning a trip to Japan, make sure you have a suitable notebook, a plain and sturdy one, and be ready to look out for stamps everywhere you go.

Where did Stamp Rally originate?

I like to think of stamp rally as an analogue version of Pokémon. Historically, people would carry a special book with them when visiting temples and shrines called a goshuincho. This practice is believed to have 1300 year old history. Each temple and shrine has a unique stamp, called goshuin. This translates literally to ‘honourable red seal’ and people would try to collect as many as possible while travelling to temples and shrines around the country. Formerly, pilgrims would write out a sutra in exchange for the seal. The gashuincho thereby becoming proof of one’s devotion. Now, you can receive the seal by giving a small donation for the attendant’s time in writing the beautiful kanji. The seal is also dated and contains a blessing.

Please note, it is extremely bad etiquette to place any stamp other than the ones written for you in a gashuincho. I’ve read quite a lot of reports of people doing so and being unaware this is considered very rude.

What is Stamp Rally?

Like gashuin, many places in Japan have collectable stamps. Train stations, tourist sites like towers and castles, and many other places have a stamp you can put into your book as a record of where you’ve visited on your trip. Sometimes there is an actual rally on, where you can win prizes for collecting all the stamps for a particular marketing promotion.

You can buy notebooks in Japan, specifically designed for the purpose of collecting these stamps. Some have a space to fill in place and date information. I usually use a plain book, and a different one for each trip, but there are no rules. I collect station stamps, museum stamps, festival stamps, castle stamps, park stamps, airport stamps, and sometimes, people stamps. All Japanese people have a personal seal stamp, used for signing documents. Occasionally, after drinking sake, I have collected the stamps of our drinking partners for the evening. I also have one of these stamps, procured for me by the mother of our homestay guest, Honda-san. She chose the beautiful kanji to spell out my name.

Collecting stamps as you travel around is a lot of fun. Some are beautiful, some are fun, and the notebook gives you a great ‘omiyage’ souvenir to take home. I keep mine as a momento of each trip.

If you’re having trouble finding the stamp, please ask station staff, museum staff, or anyone else that is around. In my experience, Japanese people are generally happy to help. In Japanese asking if they have a stamp is easy. “Stampu ga arimasuka.” Or where the stamp is. “Stampu ga dokodesuka.’

There is an excellent group on Facebook, Japan Stamp Rally Community and you can read more about the goals and prizes of stamp rally at Introduction to Stamp Rallies.