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Coming from Europe, I found it weird in North America that I get asked for business cards all the time but it's been 15 years since I got asked for one in Europ

Coming from Europe, I found it weird in North America that I get asked for business cards all the time but it's been 15 years since I got asked for one in Europe. The US Border is bizarre, I get asked for a card when I cross almost all the time - like it's some sort of equivalent of a passport that proves I'm really on business. They had a sense of humor failure when I offer to email them one, so I stopped doing that and just got some cards so I can give them, and whoever else asks, one.

striking 11y ago
Business cards are a big part of culture in some places. In Japan, it's "an essential part of Japanese business ettiquette."[1] This is true to the degree that a show about a Japanese man who crushes business cards to get a reaction was invented. [2] 1: http://www.linguist.com/services-japanese-card.htm http://www.linguist.com/services-japanese-card.htm 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuT2EjdnFU4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuT2EjdnFU4
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- resoluteteeth 11y ago
  > This is true to the degree that a show about a Japanese man who crushes business cards to get a reaction was invented. This is not at all "a show about a Japanese man who crushes business cards to get a reaction." The clip you have linked is labelled as being from "Gigazeus" which is apparently a comedy tokusatsu (like Power Rangers) show. Since I was confused as to why there were other clips with the same person that didn't seem to be from this show, I wasted some time researching this and determined the following: There was a series of dumb comedy tv shows that were supposed to be lessons in how to make people angry. In these shows, this actor (Shinichi Usui) was supposed to be a professor, who demonstrated how to make people angry by disrespecting them. The person who directed these shows then went on to direct the show the clip you have linked is from, and apparently brought on the same actor to do essentially the same thing but as a different character. This was simply a short gag on two different shows directed by the same person that was more about the silly facial expression made by the actor than about the actual destroying of the business cards. I have taken the time to write a reply (to this comment that is arguably only tangentially related to the original link) that is arguably unnecessarily detailed because misinformation about Japan and Japanese TV shows seems to be so prevalent on the internet. In particular, I want to dispel the idea that the very idea of crushing business cards is somehow so shocking to Japanese people (more than it would be in other countries) that there would be a reality show just about someone crushing business cards.
  - striking 11y ago
    I stand corrected, and would edit my comment if I could. Thank you for teaching me about Japanese culture. (although I'll reiterate that business cards are still very important in that culture)
xiaoma 11y ago
Coming from North America, I found it interesting how often I got asked for business cards in China. I usually just exchanged FB or email addresses back in the US.
RightWingRabble 11y ago
What do you do instead?
BrandoElFollito 11y ago
In France I give and get business cards all the time (in a high tech company, so even more in me traditional ones). This is both when meeting people from similar firms and from consulting ones. This reminds me that I have to other a new deck.

striking 11y ago

Business cards are a big part of culture in some places. In Japan, it's "an essential part of Japanese business ettiquette."[1] This is true to the degree that a show about a Japanese man who crushes business cards to get a reaction was invented. [2] 1: http://www.linguist.com/services-japanese-card.htm http://www.linguist.com/services-japanese-card.htm 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuT2EjdnFU4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuT2EjdnFU4

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
resoluteteeth 11y ago
> This is true to the degree that a show about a Japanese man who crushes business cards to get a reaction was invented. This is not at all "a show about a Japanese man who crushes business cards to get a reaction." The clip you have linked is labelled as being from "Gigazeus" which is apparently a comedy tokusatsu (like Power Rangers) show. Since I was confused as to why there were other clips with the same person that didn't seem to be from this show, I wasted some time researching this and determined the following: There was a series of dumb comedy tv shows that were supposed to be lessons in how to make people angry. In these shows, this actor (Shinichi Usui) was supposed to be a professor, who demonstrated how to make people angry by disrespecting them. The person who directed these shows then went on to direct the show the clip you have linked is from, and apparently brought on the same actor to do essentially the same thing but as a different character. This was simply a short gag on two different shows directed by the same person that was more about the silly facial expression made by the actor than about the actual destroying of the business cards. I have taken the time to write a reply (to this comment that is arguably only tangentially related to the original link) that is arguably unnecessarily detailed because misinformation about Japan and Japanese TV shows seems to be so prevalent on the internet. In particular, I want to dispel the idea that the very idea of crushing business cards is somehow so shocking to Japanese people (more than it would be in other countries) that there would be a reality show just about someone crushing business cards.
- striking 11y ago
  I stand corrected, and would edit my comment if I could. Thank you for teaching me about Japanese culture. (although I'll reiterate that business cards are still very important in that culture)

xiaoma 11y ago

Coming from North America, I found it interesting how often I got asked for business cards in China. I usually just exchanged FB or email addresses back in the US.

RightWingRabble 11y ago

What do you do instead?

BrandoElFollito 11y ago

In France I give and get business cards all the time (in a high tech company, so even more in me traditional ones). This is both when meeting people from similar firms and from consulting ones. This reminds me that I have to other a new deck.