The Pointless Japanese Art of Business Cards (Part I of II)

If you’re reading this, the odds are extraordinarily high that you don’t walk around carrying business cards. That’s because they’re a lost art where English is the primary language.

On the other hand, the tradition is alive and well in Japan.

I learned this the hard way when I moved back to Tokyo after starting my career in New York.

On my first week in Tokyo, my new boss took me and my fellow colleagues out to a fancy sushi restaurant. It was one of those places where there’s no menu and you get kicked out for making custom orders.

After the lunch, my boss introduced each of us one-by-one to the chef, who offered his business card to exchange. When it was my turn, I was forced to confess I didn’t have my business card with me because I’d assumed, apparently incorrectly, that business cards were for business.

This snafu led to a stern lecture from my boss, after which I learned an important lesson: in Japan, I need to carry my business card everywhere I go, regardless of work or pleasure.

This means that in my day-to-day, I go through an inordinate amount of business cards. To provide some perspective, I was given a box of a hundred on my first day in New York and didn’t go through it in the three years I worked there. After I got to Tokyo, I went through a box of a hundred in my first three months.

I droll out business cards like candy. I give it to bank cashiers so I don’t have to explain how my name is spelled/written. I give it to women at gokon because being a lawyer in Japan earns social respect rather than ridicule. I give it to a salesperson at luxury watch boutiques to make her think I’ll actually buy a watch.

I basically give it to people in place of giving an introduction.

Of course, scattering my business card everywhere is a rather pointless exercise because the vast majority of people who receive it aren’t interested in receiving it.

Nowhere is this more true than in a business setting.

Japanese prefer in-person meetings over audio/video conference, and all such meetings begin with a ceremonial rite of exchanging business cards. And God help you if you’re attending a kick-off meeting for a large project. You’ll spend the first 30 minutes of a 2 hour meeting exchanging cards with people who are too senior to be important and whom you’ll never meet again, ever.

(to be continued to Part II)