Editing Japanese name (section)

===Difficulty of reading names===
{{One source|section|date=April 2025}}
A name written in kanji may have more than one common pronunciation, only one of which is correct for a given individual. For example, the surname written in kanji as {{lang|ja|東海林}} may be read either {{Transliteration|ja|Tōkairin}} or {{Transliteration|ja|Shōji}}.<ref name=PowerpC4-2/> Conversely, any one name may have several possible written forms, and again, only one will be correct for a given individual. The character {{lang|ja|一}} when used as a male given name may be used as the written form for "Hajime", "Hitoshi", "Ichi-/-ichi" "Kazu-/-kazu", and many others. The name [[Hajime]] may be written with any of the following: {{lang|ja|始}}, {{lang|ja|治}}, {{lang|ja|初}}, {{lang|ja|一}}, {{lang|ja|元}}, {{lang|ja|肇}}, {{lang|ja|創}}, {{lang|ja|甫}}, {{lang|ja|基}}, {{lang|ja|哉}}, {{lang|ja|啓}}, {{lang|ja|本}}, {{lang|ja|源}}, {{lang|ja|東}}, {{lang|ja|大}}, {{lang|ja|孟}}, or {{lang|ja|祝}}. This many-to-many correspondence between names and the ways they are written is much more common with male given names than with surnames or female given names but can be observed in all these categories. The permutations of potential characters and sounds can become enormous, as some very overloaded sounds may be produced by over 500 distinct kanji and some kanji characters can stand for several dozen sounds. This can and does make the [[collation]], [[pronunciation]], and [[romanization]] of a Japanese name a very difficult problem. For this reason, business cards often include the pronunciation of the name as [[furigana]], and forms and documents often include spaces to write the reading of the name in kana (usually katakana).

A few Japanese names, particularly family names, include [[Kyuujitai|archaic versions of characters]]. For example, the very common character {{transliteration|ja|shima}}, "island", may be written as {{lang|ja|嶋}} or {{lang|ja|嶌}} instead of the usual {{lang|ja|島}}. Some names also feature very uncommon kanji, or even [[jinmeiyō kanji|kanji which no longer exist in modern Japanese]]. Japanese people who have such names are likely to compromise by substituting similar or simplified characters. This may be difficult for input of kanji in computers, as many kanji databases on computers only include common and regularly used kanji, and many archaic or mostly unused characters are not included.

An example of such a name is [[Saito (surname)|Saitō]]: there are two common kanji for {{transliteration|ja|sai}} here. The two {{transliteration|ja|sai}} characters have different meanings: {{lang|ja|斉}} means "together" or "parallel", but {{lang|ja|斎}} means "to purify". These names can also exist written in archaic forms, as {{lang|ja|齊藤}} and {{lang|ja|齋藤}} respectively.

A problem occurs when an elderly person forgets how to write their name in old kanji that is no longer used.

Family names are sometimes written with periphrastic readings, called {{transliteration|ja|[[jukujikun]]}}, in which the written characters relate indirectly to the name as spoken. For example, {{lang|ja|四月一日}} would normally be read as {{nihongo3|"April 1st"||shigatsu tsuitachi}}, but as a family name it is read {{nihongo3|"unpadded clothes"||watanuki}}, because the first day of the fourth lunar month (in the old lunar calendar, closer to 1 May) is the traditional date to switch from winter to summer clothes. In the same way {{lang|ja|小鳥遊}} would normally be read as {{nihongo3|"little birds play"||kotori asobi}} or {{transliteration|ja|shōchōyū}}, but is read {{Transliteration|ja|Takanashi}}, because little birds ({{transliteration|ja|kotori}}) play ({{transliteration|ja|asobi}}) where there are no ({{transliteration|ja|nashi}}) hawks ({{transliteration|ja|taka}}).

Most Japanese people and agencies have adopted customs to deal with these issues. [[Address book]]s, for instance, often contain furigana or [[ruby characters]] to clarify the pronunciation of the name. Japanese nationals are also required to give a [[romanized name]] for their [[passport]].

Not all names are complicated. Some common names are summarized by the phrase {{nihongo3|"the village in the middle of the rice fields"||tanakamura}}: the three kanji ({{nihongo3|"rice field"|田|ta}}, {{nihongo3|"middle"|中|naka}} and {{nihongo3|"village"|村|mura}}), together in any pair, form a simple, reasonably common surname: [[Tanaka]], [[Nakamura (surname)|Nakamura]], [[Murata (surname)|Murata]], [[Nakata (disambiguation)|Nakata]] (Nakada), [[Muranaka]], [[Tamura (surname)|Tamura]].

Despite these difficulties, there are enough patterns and recurring names that most native Japanese will be able to read virtually all family names they encounter and the majority of personal names.