Joe in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Joe in katakana

• ー is the long-vowel mark: it stretches the sound before it. In vertical writing it turns into a vertical line.
• Write the small ョ at about half size, in the lower left of the square (in horizontal writing). ジョ is one sound, jo.
• 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.

Joe on Japanese forms

Example full name: Joe Smith → ジョー・スミス (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: スミス ジョー. In a フリガナ (furigana) field write it in katakana; if the field says ふりがな use hiragana (すみす じょー); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ｽﾐｽ ｼﾞｮｰ).

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 Joe in Japanese?

Joe is usually written ジョー (jō) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is じょー.

Is there a kanji for Joe?

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.