Shields in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Shields in katakana

• ー is the long-vowel mark: it stretches the sound before it. In vertical writing it turns into a vertical line.
• 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 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 Shields 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.

Shields on Japanese forms

Example full name: John Shields → ジョン・シールズ (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: シールズ 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 (しーるず じょん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ｼｰﾙｽﾞ 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 Shields in Japanese?

Shields is usually written シールズ (shīruzu) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is しーるず.

Is there a kanji for Shields?

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.