The
Country Seal of Japan (Japanese: 国璽, formerly 國璽
kokuji) is the Japanese official seal of state. It is cubic. The characters 大日本國璽 (Great Japan Nation Seal) are carved in it in the Archaic script (篆書 tensho). When written vertically in two lines, the right-hand side is 大日本 (
Dai Nippon) and the left-hand side is "國璽"(
Kokuji).
The seal is made from pure
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
, measures 3 suns (about 9cm) and weighs 4.5kg.
The
Country Seal of Japan (Japanese: 国璽, formerly 國璽
kokuji) is the Japanese official seal of state. It is cubic. The characters 大日本國璽 (Great Japan Nation Seal) are carved in it in the Archaic script (篆書 tensho). When written vertically in two lines, the right-hand side is 大日本 (
Dai Nippon) and the left-hand side is "國璽"(
Kokuji).
History
The seal is made from pure
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
, measures 3 suns (about 9cm) and weighs 4.5kg. Abei Rekido, the Kyoto-based master-hand of the seal, (安部井 櫟堂, 1805-1883) was ordered to produce the seal, and he manufactured it with the
Privy Seal of JapanThe Privy Seal of Japan is the Emperor of Japan's official seal. It is square and its inscription "天皇御璽" is written in the seal script . It has two lines of vertical writing. On the right-hand side is "天皇" and on left-hand side is "御璽"...
in one year in 1874. Although there was no character of "帝" (imperial) into the seal sentence since it was manufactured before the name of a country of Japan was formally known as 大日本帝国 (
Dai Nippon Teikoku) by the
Meiji ConstitutionThe ', more commonly known as the Imperial or Meiji Constitution, was the fundamental law of the Empire of Japan from 29 November 1890 until 2 May 1947...
, it was not reminted at the time of the Meiji Constitution establishment. Under the Meiji Constitution, the case where the Privy Seal or State Seal is pushed had been defined on the official note formula (公文式:
kōbunshiki 1886 - 1907) and the official formula code (公式令:
kōreisiki 1907 - 1947). However, the code was abolished with enforcement of the
Constitution of JapanThe has been the founding legal document of Japan since 1947. The constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government and guarantees certain fundamental rights. Under its terms the Emperor of Japan is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people" and exercises a purely...
, and there is currently no replacement statute. The State Seal is only used for certificate decoration (勲記:
kunki).
It is stored in a specially designated leather bag. When used, a special ruler is used, and
cinnabarCinnabar, sometimes written cinnabarite, is a name applied to red mercury sulfide , or native vermillion, the common ore of mercury. The name comes from the Greek - "kinnabari" - used by Theophrastus, and was probably applied to several distinct substances. Other sources say the word comes from the...
seal ink specially made in the national Printing Bureau is used so that it should not bend or shift.
Reproduction of the State Seal and the Privy Seal for unauthorized purposes are offenses, punishable by two years or more of terminable penal servitude according to Article 164 the 1st clause of the criminal code.