Learn the peculiarity of meishi kokan ceremony and get useful tips on meishi coping, in order to show respect for your Japanese partners.

Meishi Kokan Ceremony

Meishi Kokan Ceremony

The meishi is a kind of expansion of you and the company you present: when handing or accepting meishi, take them carefully! You should not fold them, make notes on them in front of other people, and tuck them in a back pocket. The principal issues concerning a careful attitude and treatment of meishi comprise:

Hold them in an appropriate carrying case.

Feel certain that the cards you give are stopless and stiff.

You should translate them correctly into Japanese – the point is to unmistakably convey your position within your organization.

At a convention, you may draw them up in front of you on the table to memorize the names of your Japanese associates. When the assembly is over, you could employ them as a “data bank”: write down the date and conditions of the gathering, your partner’s interests and hobbies, some ideas of the next meeting and pronunciation of some difficult names. When the Japanese gather the cards you have hand them, it may be a sign of the finish of the convention.

The essential Meishi Kokan ceremony components comprise:
When handing your card, do it Japanese-side up.
As you convey your card, you may slightly bow.
meishi_03When you accept someone’s card, take it with both hands in order to give honor to the person; if it is a simultaneous interchange, you should receive it with your right hand.
Take the card you accepted with both hands.
Read the card attentively and you’d better check the name out loud. You should apply your partner’s surname with either Mr., Ms. or –san.
You should not lay the cards aside instantly. You can employ them at the convention for recalling names.