Richards in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Richards 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 ャ at about half size, in the lower left of the square (in horizontal writing). チャ is one sound, cha.
• Japanese has a single sound for English L and R, so both are written with the ラ-row (ra, ri, ru, re, ro).
• Japanese syllables end in a vowel (except ン), so the final consonant of Richards 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.

Richards on Japanese forms

Example full name: John Richards → ジョン・リチャーズ (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: リチャーズ 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 (りちゃーず じょん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ﾘﾁｬｰｽﾞ 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 Richards in Japanese?

Richards is usually written リチャーズ (richāzu) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is りちゃーず.

Is there a kanji for Richards?

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.