Your Name in Japanese
Surname First or Last: What to Write Where
Japan flipped its own romanized name order in January 2020. What that means for the order you write, and where a swapped name creates a mismatch.
Japan Know How archive
Category: Your Name in Japanese
How American and English names are written in katakana, and why the spelling that stuck is often not the one the rules predict. Syllable breakdowns, ateji kanji, vertical writing, and the difference between an established spelling and a calculated one. Start here if you came for your own name.
Your Name in Japanese
How a Foreign Name Becomes a Carved Seal
A hanko is not a signature and not always required any more. What a katakana seal costs, where banks still ask for one, and which shops carve them.
Your Name in Japanese
Every Japanese Form That Asks for Your Name
Residence card, bank, hotel, tickets: which field wants romaji, which wants katakana, and what happens when your two spellings stop matching.
Your Name in Japanese
Ateji: How Foreign Names Get Written in Kanji
The tradition is real and it is a sound game first. Meaning is a filter, not a starting point - and the tattoo failure mode is structural rather than linguistic.
Your Name in Japanese
How to Write Your Name Vertically in Japanese
Vertical Japanese is not horizontal text turned sideways. The long-vowel bar rotates, small kana change corner, and columns run right to left. Here is what actually changes.
Your Name in Japanese
Five English Sounds Japanese Does Not Have
L and R, both th sounds, V, the missing consonant-vowel pairs and the vowels Japanese inserts into consonant clusters. None of it is random, and all of it is predictable.
Your Name in Japanese
Katakana Name Rules, and the Names That Break Them
We tested a rule engine on 61 names with documented Japanese spellings. It scored 77 percent, and the misses were Michael, Thomas, Sean and Charlotte. Here is the autopsy.
Your Name in Japanese
How to Write Your Name in Japanese: The Complete Guide
Which script your name belongs in, how English sounds get remapped, the four adjustments that decide whether a spelling looks natural, and where the rules simply lose to precedent.