SAPPORO -- The Sapporo city government announced on Feb. 3 that it will stop requiring employees to pay for their own business cards, opting to cover the costs with public funds as a general rule.

Orders for business cards deemed necessary for work will now be compiled by each workplace and printed at public expense. According to the Sapporo Municipal Government, it is common for local government employees in Japan to pay for their own cards, and most staff in Sapporo followed this practice. However, in November 2023, some employees proposed public funding as part of work style reforms, prompting the city to examine how the costs should be handled.

Around 7,000 of Sapporo's approximately 15,000 general administrative employees will qualify for the program. The city estimates that 470,000 cards will be produced annually, costing about 7 million yen (roughly $45,000) if outsourced to private companies.

Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto had already expressed his support for the change during a press conference in June 2024, stating that "using personal funds for something used for work is not appropriate."

(Japanese original by Junji Takayama, Hokkaido News Department)