A Guide to Japanese Business Card Etiquette

When traveling to other cultures on business (or even for pleasure), you should know certain proper ways of doing things in that culture. In other words, you should know the proper etiquette. For instance, do you know how to properly greet a new business associate? Do you know what protocols to follow when dining with new business associates? How about the amount of tip to give your waiter or waitress at a restaurant?

My current employer is a company that is headquartered in Japan. Although I work for their U.S. unit, I do make trips to Japan every now and then. So for those of us who interface with our Japanese counterparts on a regular basis, the company offers several cross-cultural training programs to help us understand each others' customs. Since obviously I can't go into detail on all of the different customs and cultural information in a short article, I am going to provide some points on proper etiquette for a couple of very typical situations in which you might find yourself as a business traveler to Japan. These situations include the use of business cards and dining with business associates. In this article, I will talk about business card etiquette. And in a follow-up article, I will discuss some tips on dining out with business associates.

So let's talk about business cards. In Japan, businesspeople hand out their cards all the time. It is almost guaranteed that you will hand out more cards in Japan than you normally do at home. So be sure to bring plenty of them with you on your trip. You don't want to run out.

When exchanging business cards, always be sure to stand up. Greeting someone while sitting down, especially someone of higher rank, is considered rude. While facing your business associate, hand your card to him with the writing facing the correct way for him to read (this means the writing will be upside-down to you). This shows that you are being considerate. It is also appropriate to bow slightly while exchanging cards.

Take the time to review the information on the card you just received. You might even try pronouncing the name and title. Ask for help if you cannot pronounce it or if you have any questions about the information on the card. Basically, you want to show that you are interested in that person. DO NOT quickly shove the card in your back pocket without looking at it. This implies that you do not consider him to be very important.

Take care in handling the business card that has been given to you. Being respectful of their business card is a sign of respect for the person. A couple of years ago, one of my co-workers told me of his first trip to Japan. He was meeting a large group of Japanese associates and was collecting business cards. He had just been handed a card when another associate asked my co-worker to write down his cell phone number. Since my co-worker didn't have any paper with him, he wrote the number on the business card he had just been handed! NEVER WRITE on someone's business card...especially when that person is standing right there! This is considered disrespectful. The same goes for folding or tearing the business card. By the way, that co-worker does not work in my division anymore.

One final tip on business cards. Have your information printed in English on one side and Japanese on the other. Again, this shows that you are being considerate of your business associate. Oh, and be sure to hand your card with the Japanese side facing up when exchanging cards with your Japanese business associates.