The importance of business cards (Meishi)

Business cards, or meishi (MAY-SHE), are extremely important here, so very much more important that they are in the States. This is because social rank is extremely important here. Basically, one is above or below someone, never equal. This assessment of level is critical in determining social interaction. People just don’t know how to talk to each other without information of social rank. In part this is to determine what level of language to use–speaking politely or humblely to someone below you shows you are a weak person, not to be trusted or depended upon, while talking casually or not politely enough to someone above you means you are a snot nosed punk who isn’t to be trusted (this is where you will hear a sword quickly drawn and see a head roll in the samurai movies). Knowledge of social rank is also needed to determine how to bow to someone (the highest they are above you, the lower and longer the bow), among other things.

So all this makes the meishi critical, especially for salarymen. When two people meet for the first time they will greet each other very politely and immediately hand their meishi over. Now this isn’t the casual one handed, “here’s my card” we use in the West. No no no, that would cause looks of complete horror here. ”Dear god, did you see what he just did?” “How could he do that?” and so on. One’s meishi is a representation of oneself and thus needs to be treated extremely respectfully by both people. The correct way to hand over the meishi is to slightly bow, holding it with both hands, correctly oriented to face the person receiving it. The receiver then takes it with both hands while also bowing slightly. Typically he will then study it for a few minutes, reading it while frowning and making occasional ”ah” noises, then place it carefully in his meishi holder and into his suit coat pocket. 

I can hear someone asking “did you say meishi holder”. Yep. It is considered rude to give someone a meishi that is bent or in any way not perfect. Also, as I said above a meishi represents you, so to simply pull it out of your pocket or wallet gives a really bad image, suggesting you don’t really care about yourself. People spend a lot of money on fancy holders or cases to house their own meishi and any they receive from other people. 

Whew. Now with that out of the way, valuable knowledge is gained such as who will pour beer for whom at drinking parties (every night after work). You can see how important they are!