One of the old-fashioned tourist-y things I did when I lived in Japan was collect the stamps from the train stations I visited. Each train station, and lots of other tourist spots besides, has its own rubber stamp. I impressed the stamps into a Japanese-style accordian folded book. When you unfold it, you can display the entire set.
The stamp above, the first one in my book, is for Kamegawa Eki, which was the station closest to our apartment. An oni (demon) is shown because he represents the jigoku (hells) around the Kamegawa onsen area.
The accordian-folded books can be found in any stationery store for under $10.00US. If you decide to create your own stamp book, I recommend that you carry an inkpad with you. A lot of the time, the inkpads at the station are too dried out to make a good print.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
January 28, 2004
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Japanese train station stamps, rubber stamps