WASHI | Tacit Knowledge Behind Networking
WASHI is a handcrafted business card that works as a physical key to a digital network. A tap on a phone records who met whom and who made the introduction. We are using that record as an instrument: to find patterns in how people network.
LinkedIn algorithms recommends who you should connect with from titles, mutuals, and similarity scores. They do not yet see into the room. WASHI unveils those deeper insight, the mindset and strategy of the networker, whom someone seeks out, whom they trust with an introduction, how their network takes shape under different conditions to better understand how people go about networking.
“When one introduces you to another, you do not bypass the one to engage with the other.”
Cultural Context In Kyoto, exchanging business cards is more than a formality—it is a ritual marking the first meeting, the opening of gateway into one’s network. This tradition reinforces the importance of trust building, making every exchange meaningful. Business cards remain prevalent here because they carry the respect one has for another.
How It Works
Setup – Tap your WASHI to your own phone once. That pairs the card and the device. After that, when you place your card on someone else’s phone, the meeting is recorded. No app required.
Meet & Connect – Connect with someone by tapping your WASHI on their smartphone.
Visualize & Predict – See your network grow in real-time, while simulating future connections based on prior networking patterns through your personal AI agent.
If the phone you tap has not been paired yet, that person is asked for their name and can join the network there. That is the signup. They appear on the map. They cannot start a tap-to-connect of their own until they have a card.
Ko Kado, has been crafting karakami on washi for Hiroshi Sugimoto and the late Sakamoto Ryuichi.
Craftsmanship Traditional paper-making values technique and materials over concept or artistry. The mastery of craftsmanship is what makes each WASHI unique and valuable.
Technology WASHI is built with ultra-thin NFC chips embedded in handmade washi paper. This simplicity ensures that anyone can create their own WASHI and connect to our networking system. See the core components below:
Hardware
Handmade washi — Traditional technique, for the hand.
Ultra-thin NFC chip — Embedded in the paper. One tap pairs your card to your phone. Later taps on another phone record the meeting. An unpaired phone is only asked for a name.
Software
Pairing and tap-to-connect — Your first tap binds this card to this phone. After that, a tap on someone else’s phone writes the introduction: whose card it is, whose phone it is. No app. No request to accept.
Join with a name — If the phone has not been paired yet, that person enters their name and is on the map. When their WASHI arrives, they tap once to sync and can then start connections themselves.
Web-researched profiles — Before an event, each card can hold a name and a short sketch gathered from the public web, with sources. Models search and draft; they do not invent a person.
The graph — Meetings and who introduced whom are stored in Neo4j and drawn in React with force-graph, so the lineage of a room stays visible as it grows.
AI Recommendation — Progressive Chain Networking (patent licensed) reads how the map actually expands—who connects, who then introduces the next person—set beside craft and background. It is built to learn from that trail of practice and give you real-time recommendation.
Next Steps We are in the process of embedding dynamic material into WASHI
Color-Changing WASHI (In R&D) – Thermochromic and electrochromic coatings that allow WASHI to visibly evolve based on an individual's network, making each card a living reflection of their holders’ growing network.
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Ko Kado for his craftsmanship.
For more information, visit Kamisoe’s Website
