Mitome-In is a Hanko owned by an individual that is not registered as Jitsu-In. When you go to a Japanese stationary store, you will probably see stamps engraved with Japanese family name like “佐藤”, “斎藤”. You can have it as many as possible. It is also called “Sanmonban, 三文判”. The types of Mitome-in can be roughly classified into whether a Hanko which needs vermilion ink or a Hanko which has already vermilion ink inside.The former one is Mitome-In and The latter one is Shachihata.
Shachihata has also the same effect as Mitome-In but its problem is that a stamped impression is quite light. In contrast to Mitome-In, there is a risk that the color of Shachihata’s impression stamped on paper becomes light with the lapse of time. Therefore, it is often the case that you are requested not to use Shachihata when you stamp on important document like a contract and document which Shachihata is stamped is rejected. However, its effectiveness as Hanko is the same as Mitomein unless its impression is faded out.