I generally understand that proper Japanese uses Hiragana and Katakana is for
slang/foreign words. Given that, my first name is super American but my last
name is Japanese. Would I then make my first name Katakana and last name
Hiragana?

(I haven't touched Kanji yet, so let's just stick to those two for now!)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-04T19:47:43.607
61973
2018-11-04T12:00:44.430
31465
question
orthography names
How should I write my name with an American first name and Japanese last name?
If you live in Japan, I think it would depend on your nationality.

If you are a Japanese national, then you may use the Kanji surname in
**official** documents because that is how it's supposed to be recorded in
your Family Register (called 戸籍{こせき}), _unless_ for some reason it was
purposedly registered in Katakana, which is kinda strange if one of your
parents is Japanese.

If you are a non-Japanese national, it has to be in Katakana in **official**
documents. If you still want to use Kanji, you may after you register a legal
alias (called 通称名{つうしょうめい}) in the municipality that you live in, but there
could be limitations to its usage.

For **non-official** documents, I don't think it will be a big issue if you
use Kanji, but then it might be confusing later on to remember which name you
used where.

I tried to look for official (Japanese Government) sources in English but
couldn't find any. You can get more information from below references:

  1. <https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+162645>
  2. [As a foreigner with a Japanese name, what are the implications of writing my name in katakana or kanji?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/29473/as-a-foreigner-with-a-japanese-name-what-are-the-implications-of-writing-my-nam)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-05T01:54:34.563
61976
2018-10-05T01:54:34.563
30554
61973
answer
Foreigners's names are usually written in katakana, even when their names are
based in Japanese.

For example, Michio Kaku is a Japanese-American with a full Japanese name, and
yet his name is usually written in katakana.  
[https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ミチオ・カク](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9F%E3%83%81%E3%82%AA%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AB%E3%82%AF)

Other examples:  
[https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/日系アメリカ人の一覧](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E7%B3%BB%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A1%E3%83%AA%E3%82%AB%E4%BA%BA%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7)

But if you are living or wants to live in Japan you can adopt a 通称名, a name to
be used inside Japan.  
Then you can adopt a name in kanji, if you want to. You can for example change
Higa to the original kanji name.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-05T11:56:44.437
61979
2018-10-05T11:56:44.437
18157
61973
answer