Earlier this month, we marked’s Sansan’s 14th anniversary. The company was founded in June 2007, by a salaryman, and at a time when it was not trendy to start a startup. But our founders had ideas for disruption. The company has continually grown, and continually evolved.
Things are going well. And a new vision is forming: Sansan as business infrastructure.
This is because there’s more to Sansan than software. There is a vision to become something essential, while changing how we work. The new video below shows this bold vision.
Beyond the business is serving as a good corporate citizen, and we have new English pages up with full details. We’re also sponsoring a golf tournament! Find how contactless is not detrimental to a 300-yard drive that nails the fairway. ⛳️
Sansan as business infrastructure (amazing videos)
Sansan released a video expressing the vision, the bigger picture beyond single services, that the company set forth in January: Our aim to become business infrastructure.
This vision of Sansan as infrastructure can be thought of like a road network. It expands into new territory, creating continual new connections, providing continually new access and possibility.
By the way, an additional Sansan video, from 2017, introduces the thinking behind the “encounters” that we experience in this day and age. Even without the language, these videos are enjoyable movie-like visions of what we represent.
Creating shared value (CSV) on beautiful new English pages
Our new CSV (creating shared value) pages express the CSV and CSR activities in which we are engaged in Japan. These include:
Scan for Trees – The system we use to plant trees commensurate with the number of business cards we process
Kamiyama Marugoto School of Technology – We’re literally breaking new ground in the countryside of Shikoku, as we work to build a school for training young minds in creative skills and entrepreneurship
Kodomo Meishi – Meishi means “business card,” and through this program we introduce kids to the culture and meaning of exchanging cards, which they can enjoy with their families
Evidence-based Policy Making – Using our data and analysis skills to inform governmental policy and lead to evidence-backed choices for our future
Contactless golf at the Sansan KBC Augusta Golf Tournament 2021
It’s summer and the golf season has already been in full swing for some time. Even with the ongoing pandemic, golf is naturally distanced and offers all the fresh air you could want.
Sansan, for the first time, is sponsoring a pro golf tournament, the Sansan KBC Augusta Golf Tournament 2021.
The tournament will span August 26 (Thurs.) to 29 (Sun.), 2021 at the Akutaya Golf Club in Itoshima City, Fukuoka Prefecture. This is a beautiful corner of Western Japan, right on the coast.

Golf is a sport for connecting and communicating. No matter the age or gender, all people can take part in golf, and this leads to many encounters. Conventionally in Japan, it’s been integrally tied with business.
And while it’s no longer a focal point of the salaryman’s weekend as it may have been in the 1980s and ‘90s in Japan, it’s experiencing a new wave of interest.
Japan also saw its first-ever major golf champion when Hideki Matsuyama took the 2021 Masters and brought the green jacket back to Japan!
By providing solutions that combine the tech Sansan has worked on and continually improved over the years, we’ll help realize a smart “contactless” (except for golf clubs and balls) spectator experience.
New dedicated Sansan UX Research Center
Sansan has established its UX Research Center. This internal organization specializes in developing the software user experience (UX). Until now, user research has been conducted within individual product divisions in the company as we develop new services and improve existing ones. The new UX Research Center is companywide, aligning our expansion of our service suite.
It will have 10 dedicated members conducting quantitative and qualitative research to capture the latent and apparent needs of users for better service development.
The Japanese press release is here.
Summer is definitely heating up! 2021 continues to be a year of change and emergence. Stay tuned for more.