French in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing French in katakana

• ソ (so) and ン (n) look alike. In ソ the long stroke falls from the top right; in ン it rises from the bottom left.
• Japanese has a single sound for English L and R, so both are written with the ラ-row (ra, ri, ru, re, ro).
• Katakana is written left to right like English, or top to bottom in vertical text. Keep every character the same size except the small ones.

French on Japanese forms

Example full name: John French → ジョン・フレンチ (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: フレンチ ジョン. In a フリガナ (furigana) field write it in katakana; if the field says ふりがな use hiragana (ふれんち じょん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ﾌﾚﾝﾁ ｼﾞｮﾝ).

Japan has no official katakana spelling for foreign names. Once you use a spelling for a bank account, phone contract or employer, keep using the same one so your records match.

FAQ

How do you write French in Japanese?

French is usually written フレンチ (furenchi) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is ふれんち.

Is there a kanji for French?

No. Foreign names have no official kanji; they are written in katakana. Kanji versions offered online (ateji) are chosen only for sound and look, and their "meanings" are made up, so this site does not provide them.