getting business cards made (quickly) in Tokyo?
 

Hello,

I am sure this must have been covered at some time in this forum, but the search function has timed out on me three times in a row... and I looked through the last 100 days of posts and didn't find it. Apologies in advance if this has been thoroughly discussed.

Does anyone have suggestions for getting Japanese language business cards made in Tokyo on short notice? I work for a small firm that does not have a Japan office, and will only be in Tokyo for a few days. I may have one or two business meetings, though, and would love to have two-sided English/Japanese business cards.

Any advice on getting some made (including doing the translation) quickly? I will be staying at a business hotel near Nippori (not in a 5* hotel that might otherwise be able to help me). Thank you for any advice!

Although I don't have any personal experience with having business cards in made Japan, I immediately though of Kinko's. Here's a link to Fedex Kinko's Japan website (in English): Kinko's Services.

Hi there - what worries me a bit with Kinko's is not the printing bit (they can do an express 3h printing for +30% of the price) but the translation... because it's not that easy to translate your title properly! So in the "worst" case, I would suggest you bring your own business card (in English) because the Japanese people would probably prefer receiving something "original (meaning what you use back home)" than something strangely translated and done quickly. See what I mean? And bring a lot of them. Many people say that they have given as many business cards in 3 days as they did in the past few years.

Narita airport business center in T1 has a "Business card printing service" and there they should be used to printing them for overseas travellers... but I may be wrong. Anyone used it?

There are automatic business card printing machines a bit everywhere (like in Department stores) but I think it's all written in Japanese. Will you have an interpreter with you? That would make things much easier.

After a bit of googling, this company seems to be a Texas-based printer if you want to do it while in the US (assuming you live there). I think the price is a bit steep but at least you wouldn't need to worry once you're here. (And of course, I am not affiliated with anyone mentioned).

If you would like I will be happy to take a stab at translating your card into Japanese. I have several hundred examples that I have received obver the years to copy and paste from.

Mike

We went through a lot of discussion over this apparently minor issue with our Japanese office. Translation of titles isn't the only problem: there can be a lot of discussion about how to spell your name in katakana. Also a lot of the places in the U.S. that do Japanese versions do the card in some old format that isn't preferable anymore.

If time permits, I'd have a Japanese business friend critique any translation and make suggestions. If time does not permit, I'd forget all the advice in those dated books on doing business in Japan (check the copyright) and just hand out English cards, possibly accompanied by a pro forma apology.

Thanks, all, for the replies.

Until about a year ago, I worked for a large company that had a local office in Japan - when I arrived for a business trip, they would immediately hand me a stack of locally-produced cards. Even then, I once had someone come to me after a business meeting and tell me the translation was poor.

I also recall the size and paper being different enough that I would prefer to not have them made in the US.

Now, I am working in a company with just a few people, and I want to "do the right thing" and get local two-sided cards, but I share the concerns with the folks who responded here. I think that I will ask around when I get there (and try the NRT business center and a Kinko's), but may just rely on English cards. Thanks!

I'll step out on a line...and suggest you can get this done in the US, before you leave. With my home computer I can create documents using hiragana, katagana and kanji and then print them, so why can't a far more high tech copy store do the same, stepping it up a bit for better paper and more printing options?

I also like the advice to have some native Japanese review the content before comitting to printing. As different people have different experiences and opinions, have two or three review them first.

In the middle of writing this, I telephoned one of my Japanese friends, in LA. She has had Japanese language business cards printed in the USA. She explained the technical requirements and why Kinkos may or may not be able to print them for you. Anyway, the simple solution is to have a local Japanese printer take care of it for you.

IME - Your English cards should be just fine with everyone you meet.

Because your average far more high tech neighborhood Kinko's probably hasn't gone through the not-inconsiderable hassle of making things work right in Japanese.

I've used a site I found on from Google search and had excellent results. They are based in the states (California I think) and their site is called LunaConcepts.com they have an area for Japanese business cards. I used the e-file example from their site to get a final PDF file that I took to Kinkos here in the states. It printed perfectly. No problems. I just faxed them my sample card, and they emailed me the PDF in English/Japanese. They also do printed cards as well, but I can't say about the quality of those since I didn't get them.

I would highly recommend their service, the total turnaround time for a final full color PDF took about one business day.

Yesterday I had lunch with Japanese woman who works at a Las Vegas Kinkos. Remembering this thread, I pulled out mjm's card and asked if she could reproduce something like that at Kinkos. Her first response was: Ooh, Mori! Her second response was: No problem. I told her that was great news I could report back to FT. I said: So you have Japanese fonts at Kinkos? Her: No, I would have to make it at home, then bring it to work, to print.

FWIW

Thanks for the tip and welcome to Flyertalk!!!!!

A year late..........:p

Hey! He's only 11 months late!

I knew someone would count..........