Business Card Inventory

July 1, 2026. ZYX’s 40th Anniversary.
Over these 40 years, I’ve accumulated nearly 10,000 business cards. The early ones didn’t include email addresses or cell phone numbers, and company phone numbers were still nine digits long.
People I met around the time of Emperor Hirohito’s passing and the bursting of the bubble economy.
People I mourned the Great Hanshin Earthquake and the 9/11 terrorist attacks with.
People who shared my anxiety about Japan’s future following the global financial crisis and the Great East Japan Earthquake.
People I encouraged and was encouraged by during the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when we couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
(I wonder if it’s just the bad things that stick in my memory.)
A business card was not just a contact detail; it was a record of the very path I had walked.

Since last year, ZYX has been working to expand its business scope through partnerships with operating companies within the UNIVA Group.
We are currently engaged in sales of UNIVA Japan’s digital tools, such as ESCO-ONE and UNIVA Gyro-n.
We need to develop new pipelines that differ from our core advertising business.
I decided to go through my massive collection of old business cards.
At first, I intended it to be a “review of my professional network.”
I planned to organize who I could contact and what industry connections I had, with the aim of using this information to help launch new business ventures.
However, as I worked through the process, I found myself unexpectedly enjoying it.

"It’s been a while. How are you?"
I sent a casual email, and a reply came back immediately.
“It’s been a while. Let’s definitely meet up.”
Even though we hadn’t seen each other in decades, our conversation began as if we were picking up right where we left off yesterday.
We’ve both grown older and our circumstances have changed, but it seems the time we shared back then isn’t so easily forgotten.
One had retired from active duty and was supporting young people in a rural area.
Another had lived abroad and was now taking on a new challenge in a different field.
Another had overcome an illness and now had a serene expression.

What’s remarkable is that even after so many years, the bonds of trust we once built remain surprisingly intact.
As we catch up on each other’s lives, we sometimes find ourselves having even deeper conversations than we did back then.
When we were young, we tended to focus on work achievements and status, but now we can talk about life itself.
And from those conversations, new connections are born.
“If you’re starting something interesting, there’s someone I’d like to introduce you to.”
“I might be able to help with that topic.”
As we reunited time and again, I began to take issue with the slightly cold connotation of the word “network.”
People aren’t resources. They aren’t meant to be used efficiently.
I came to believe that what truly holds value are the “connections” that have remained unbroken, however tenuous, over the long years.
That is precisely what our group refers to as “human capital.”

I used to think that going through my business cards was just a way to look back on the past. But in reality, it was different.
By organizing the past, doors to the future open one after another.
When I was young, I found value in meeting new people.
While new encounters are still enjoyable and enriching experiences today,
I now find great joy in seeing old connections rekindled and blossom in new ways.

I don’t yet know how the business areas we’ve begun to expand at ZYX will continue to grow.
But one thing is certain.
New challenges never begin alone.

ZYX International Inc.
Representative Director
Fumiaki Nakaya