This is one of the most common encounters you will see in companies in Japan - the exchanging of business cards.
In Japan, it is important to establish a personal contact, so people normally exchange business cards.
It's not like in the United States where a person nonchalantly pulls a card out and then puts the other person's card in his back pocket. In Japan when cards are exchanged, it is done carefully with both hands, and each person spends time studying the other person's card to find out more about the person's company and the person's rank in the company.
Handling business cards is done with care because the card is seen as an extension of the person. In the United States, business people don't think twice about writing on another person's card, but in Japan, it would be seen as the ultimate insult to write on another person's card in that person's presence.I have already received several cards.
And I even carry and distribute my own because it would be perceived as unusual for us to not have them. By the way, the principal of my school, Alan Long, will be happy to know that the superintendent of education loved our school logo at Southeast Whitfield High School.
Japan is a land of ceremony, protocol and tradition, and this extends into the business world, as well.
2 comments:
I have also heard you are not supposed to look people directly in the eye. Is that true?
I've never heard that one. I've looked at most people in the eyes and have not gotten a sense of uneasiness on their part.
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