You don’t hear a lot about exciting baby trends in Japan (other than crying baby videos and iPhone apps), no doubt due to its declining birth rate.
It’s full marks to Rezon, then, for this new innovation: a very stylish stamp that you can customize with your child’s hand or footprint. Called the Otete & Anyo (おててとあんよ) (cute Japanese words for a baby’s hands and feet), it is designed to be a special gift that your infant will cherish until they are much older. It even comes in a collectible wooden box, with the name and birth date of the subject engraved on the stamp.
Of course, getting this stamp made is not like popping into your local convenience store. You first need to make a print of your child’s hand or foot with ink. Then you scan this and send it in, and Rezon get to work making a unique stamp. It’s a bit of a process but we think the results are impressive.
In Japan it has also become customarily for some young parents to make commemorative calligraphy brushes (筆, fude) using the locks of their infant’s hair. Writing with your own hair might seem a bit strange but we presume the final brush is meant to be mostly decorative. Some of these gift sets also include hand prints. For examples, see AkachanFude.co.jp.
You can get the Otete & Anyo stamp from the JapanTrendShop.
