Business card etiquette

What a 名刺（めいし） is

A 名刺（めいし） is a small card, usually about 91 by 55 millimetres, printed with a person's company, department, title, name, and contact details. The standard Japanese size is called 名刺判（めいしばん）. Cards are kept in a 名刺入れ（めいしいれ）, a small case, not loose in a pocket or wallet.

The word itself is made of 名（めい）, "name", and 刺（し）, "pierce" or "stab". The original sense was a slip used to announce oneself at a gate or a door. The modern business card is a direct descendant of that announcing function.

The exchange

When you meet someone, you generally exchange cards early, after the initial bow and before sitting down or getting to business. The sequence matters more than speed.

Hold the card by its lower corners with both hands, thumbs on the front. The printed side faces the other person so they can read it without turning it. Say your name and company: 株式会社山田の山田と申します（かぶしきがいしゃ やまだの やまだと もうします）, "I am Yamada of Yamada Corporation." 申します（もうします） is the humble form of 言います（いいます）, "to say".

Receive a card the same way, with both hands. Read it. Look at the name, the company, the title. If a name is unfamiliar, it is acceptable to ask 何とお読みすればよろしいでしょうか（なんと およみすれば よろしいでしょうか）, "How should I read this?" Asking is better than guessing wrong.

There is a rough order of precedence. The junior person offers first, and the person of lower status bows slightly lower. In practice, when a visitor meets a host, the visitor often presents first. If several people are exchanging at once, do it one at a time rather than fanning cards out.

After the exchange

During the meeting, place the cards on the table in front of you, arranged in the order people are seated. This is not decoration. It lets you address each person correctly and shows you are keeping track of who is who.

Do not put a card away immediately. Do not write on it in front of the owner. Do not fold it, bend it, or use it as a bookmark. Do not slide it into a back pocket. Do not stack cards on top of each other so names are hidden.

At the end of the meeting, collect the cards and put them in your 名刺入れ（めいしいれ）. Many people write a short note on the back afterwards, out of sight, to remember where and when they met.

Why it matters

The card is treated as a stand-in for the person. Handling it carelessly reads as handling the person carelessly. This is why the rules are strict about small things: which side faces up, whether you use one hand, whether you shove it in a pocket.

It also carries information that a Western card often does not. The company name and department come before the personal name in importance. The title tells you where someone sits in a hierarchy, which affects how you speak to them. Japanese has grammatical forms for this: 敬語（けいご）, honorific language, and the choice between です・ます and plainer forms. A card tells you which register to use.

For a visitor, the practical point is that the ritual is readable. You do not need to be perfect. You need to be deliberate. Two hands, a bow, a moment spent actually reading the card, and a safe place to keep it will carry you through almost any first meeting.

Common variations

Not every exchange is formal. Among close colleagues, cards may be handed over casually, sometimes with one hand. At a 交換会（こうかんかい）, a card-exchange gathering, the pace is fast and the ritual is compressed. At a first meeting with a new client or a senior person, the full form is expected.

Some people use a 名刺入れ（めいしいれ） made of leather; others use a simple plastic case. Either is fine. What is not fine is a card that has been crumpled in a bag.

If you run out of cards, say so and apologise briefly. It is not a serious failure, but it is noticed. If you receive a card and have none to give, take theirs with both hands and explain that you will send one.

A note on the English-language advice

Much of the English writing on this topic presents the rules as absolute and uniform. They are not. Practice varies by company, by region, and by generation. The two-handed exchange and the prohibition on pocketing a card immediately are widely observed. The exact bow angle and the precise order of who goes first are less fixed than guides often suggest. Watching what the people around you do is more reliable than memorising a list.