The business card: Japan's coat of arms


The fact that the Japanese treat business cards differently than American business people is no real secret. I have seen dozens of guidebooks and websites that show the deeply bowing blonde-haired businessman passing his business card to his Japanese associate. It's easy to remember the gestures to not offend your Japanese business partner, but we also want to look a little deeper into the meaning behind the gestures to help create understanding in this important part of inter-cultural communication.

For Americans, a business card is simply a name tag, a souvenir as a reminder of a first meeting. For the Japanese it is much more than that. It is good to think of a business card as an extension of the person you are meeting. Treat it as you would a picture of his children, or as an expensive family heirloom. Look at it. Comment on it. Treat it with delicacy. Knowing this, you don't have to worry about the long lists of "do's" and "don'ts" about business cards we often run into.

While in the US the business card is received, then usually quickly filed away in a wallet or card holder to be stapled to a Rolodex when back at the office. Next time try this: at a business meeting take advantage of the Japanese system of placing your associates' cards in seating order in front of you. No one will take offense if you need to take a few glances before you can remember a new acquaintance's name, and it is certainly better than getting it wrong. Almost every Japanese person I know, who lives or does work in the US, has a story of how an associate forgot or butchered her name. The stories are always told with a chuckle, and Japanese people know thier names can be hard for non-Japanese people to say and remember.

The opposite is also true. That's why we recommend people doing business in Japan or with Japanese people get thier business cards translated into Japanese. We encourage this for two main reasons: 1) it shows your Japanese associate that you care about their needs enough to take the time to get the cards made. It says "This guy is prepared to meet people half-way. And 2) companies that send employess (i.e. sales and marketing) to Japan with bilingual business cards get more call-backs than those that don't. Even though all Japanese study English and know the alphabet, non-Japanese names can be intimidating. Who wants to embarrass themselves by calling up a new company and mispronouncing the name of the person you wish to speak with to the receptionist, a complete stranger? Bilingual cards include company and indivudual names in Japanese so the receiver doesn't need to feel intimated by a less than familiar name.

And how likely are you to call-back a potential client when the card he gave you is only in Japanese if you don't speak Japanese?

Surveys show that Japanese businessmen, (indeed it's businessmen surveyed), prioritize company over family, where Americans value family over company. (Americans also value themselves over their company). This is a topic we will explore deeper in a future post, but for now it's good to keep in mind when receiving a Japanese person's business card. He may actually value it more than the picture of his children or family heirloom.

The critical first steps in a Japanese business relationship.

One of the first mistakes we see Americans make is at the beginning of a new business relationship. Let's start with the term itself: business relationship. An American would look at this and would likely see emphasis on the term business. It might surprise you to know that a Japanese professional would look at this term and see the emphasis on relationship. In Japan business cannot begin until a relationship is established. Your potential business partner wants to know what kind of person you are. It is not uncommon for a meal and drinks to be shared or a game of golf played before any business is even discussed. Americans often see expensing meals or golf games as a "perk", but in Japan this is where real business is happening. Americans often misunderstand this, and wonder why an inferior or more expensive competitor made the deal with the Japanese customer. The reason is that the Japanese customer didn't like something he saw, either at the meal or on the golf course.

When is a person his most real self? You can often see a person's true personality on the golf course or at a meal (and after a few drinks). Without knowing his personality is being studied, the American "acts like himself". He doesn't know that business decisions are being made in his Japanese partner's mind as he grumbles after a bad putt or, even worse, embarrasses his partner by beating him badly.

To meet someone for the first time and immediately talk business is considered rude in Japan. Whereas in the US we would upset if someone didn't get to their point from the start. This is a very fundamental first step in establishing a business relationship in Japan, and many Americans shut the door on themselves before getting one foot in.

Oftentimes for decision-makers the real business starts after five o'clock. Japanese businessmen, (especially men), are famous for their eating and drinking until late in the evening with business associates. This might look juvenile, or maybe enviable, to an American businessperson, but they are showing dedication to their company and are doing work.

It's only after the 18 holes, the big meal and several big bottles of beer or sake that the potential business partner will say to his new associate "So, we have these new Johnson Rods that I think your company might find useful. What do you say?" If the day went well, the gentlemen got along, the scores fell the right way, and food and drink were consumed without any embarrassing incidents, then we can expect the response to be "Sure. Why don't you bring the specs by my office tomorrow and we can start to discuss it."

An invitation to a meal, golf, or any out-of-the-office activity after five is an invitation to do business. How many times has the American businessperson replied to such invites with, "Oh, I am busy this evening," or "I am afraid I am going to have to pass," without realizing he basically made his chances of making a deal with this potential partner essentially disappear? This is why we later sometimes hear "I don't get it! I had the better product at the better price, but they went with our competition..." That's because the competition knew to make the relationship before trying to make the business.

This is the inaugural post of Pacific Dreams, Inc. English language blog. The main purpose of this blog is to discuss inter-cultural communication with Japanese people. In our work we hear story after story of how business deals went sour or negotiations were suddenly halted due to communication break down with Japanese business partners. How can we effectively communicate with our Japanese partners? How can we begin and maintain new relationships with companies in Japan? What do American people need to know before they make that first contact or set foot in Japan? We have found that there is a lot of misunderstanding about Japanese business cultures, and often Americans don't even know where to begin when asking questions. We hope we can help by not only pointing out the right questions to ask, but to also start to answer them.