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What's the most appropriate way to write your name in Japanese?

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24 Apr 2005
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For example, say you have to fill out a form and you have to write your name. Would it be more appropriate to write your name in hiragana, katakana, or kanji? Or does it really matter?
 
yekita said:
For example, say you have to fill out a form and you have to write your name. Would it be more appropriate to write your name in hiragana, katakana, or kanji? Or does it really matter?
as a foreigner you write it in Katakana.
 
If filling out an official Japanese form, it is appropriate to write your name in katagana or romaji if you are a foreigner. It would not be appropriate to write your name in kanji or hiragana.
 
Pachipro said:
If filling out an official Japanese form, it is appropriate to write your name in katagana or romaji if you are a foreigner. It would not be appropriate to write your name in kanji or hiragana.

I once saw a website that a non-Japanese person can enter his/her name and it would convert it into Japanese. I no longer know where it is. Does anyone know where to do this?
 
It depends on the form and the purpose. If it is going on something official, then the people receiving it are more concerned that it match the "official" (on record) rendition of your name than what script you use to write it, for example.

When in doubt, ask the people who will be getting the form how they want it.
 
Foreigners should write their name in Katakana. If I'm not mistaken only Japanese natives can write their name in Kanji (or Hiragana if they forgot the Kanji 😊 ). Even Chinese names are written out in Katakana (correct me if I'm wrong).
 
honestly i think its appropriate to fill out your name using romaji whenever possible
and there is often a place to put a katakana reading
i dont know about other people but i feel my name is not well represented by the japanese syllabary
 
I use katakana. The problem with this is it will always lead to your name being pronounced wrong.

TE i MU

Thats how im supposed to write mine, a bit differnt from Tim
 
Thanks to similar pronunciation in Finnish and Japanese, I have no such problem :) The only thing that's converted into something else is the a umlaut in my last name. In all the other foreign languages I know, my name gets twisted into something weird :p
 
miu said:
Thanks to similar pronunciation in Finnish and Japanese, I have no such problem :) The only thing that's converted into something else is the a umlaut in my last name. In all the other foreign languages I know, my name gets twisted into something weird :p

a little bit off topic but as youre from finland this is my opportunity
ive heard that like japanese babies, finnish babies are born with blue spots on there *** cheeks, the so called mongolian spots (窶堙?窶堋、窶堋ア窶堙坂?堙アツ)

is there any truth to this?
 
yeah why is that? i see it on the children i work with? i write my name in katakana. i always ask if they want romajii or katakana though before i write anything. i am lucky my full name sounds the same in katakana
 
I can't write kanji on this PC, but I used to write my name in katakana at first, JaSu, which was fine, once I researched the kanji I could write my name with, people began mispronouncing it. JaShu, for instance. Then again, my name is never appropriate in kanji, one meaning is evil master, another is snake's nest. My surname can also translate to either Grudge against the World, or Worldly Soul...you can guess which sets of kanji I chose :-D
 
deadhippo said:
a little bit off topic but as youre from finland this is my opportunity
ive heard that like japanese babies, finnish babies are born with blue spots on there *** cheeks, the so called mongolian spots (窶堙?窶堋、窶堋ア窶堙坂?堙アツ)

is there any truth to this?

No 😆

Your misconception probably derives from the fact that somewhere in the beginning of the 20th century an anthropologist got it into his head that Finns are actually mongols. This is a misconception and the reason is pretty evident just by looking at any (ethnic) Finn. 😊
 
miu said:
No 😆

Your misconception probably derives from the fact that somewhere in the beginning of the 20th century an anthropologist got it into his head that Finns are actually mongols. This is a misconception and the reason is pretty evident just by looking at any (ethnic) Finn. 😊

think ive never met a Finn, ethic or otherwise
who are some world famous Finns?
 
deadhippo said:
think ive never met a Finn, ethic or otherwise
who are some world famous Finns?

Um.. well, this is slightly off topic but Jean Sibelius (a composer), Alvar Allto (a designer, architect), Tove Jansson (author of the Moomin books), Mika Waltari (an author) and Aki Kaurismaki (a film director) to name a few... And then Nokia, of course :)
 
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