Matthews in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Matthews 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 ュ at about half size, in the lower left of the square (in horizontal writing). シュ is one sound, shu.
• シ (shi) and ツ (tsu) look alike. In シ the two short strokes are placed on the left and the long stroke sweeps upward; in ツ the short strokes stand at the top and the long stroke sweeps downward.
• Japanese syllables end in a vowel (except ン), so the final consonant of Matthews becomes ズ (zu). Say it lightly.
• 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.

Matthews on Japanese forms

Example full name: John Matthews → ジョン・マシューズ (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: マシューズ 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 (ましゅーず じょん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ﾏｼｭｰｽﾞ 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 Matthews in Japanese?

Matthews is usually written マシューズ (mashūzu) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is ましゅーず.

Is there a kanji for Matthews?

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.