How to write James in katakana
Japanese writes foreign names in katakana, one of its two alphabets, by sound rather than by spelling. James becomes ジェームズ, made of these parts:
| Katakana | Sound | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ジェ | je | two characters read as one sound |
| ー | – | long vowel mark: hold the sound before it a little longer |
| ム | mu | |
| ズ | zu |
You may also see James written ジェイムズ (Jeimuzu). Both are used; ジェームズ is the more common spelling.
When you write a full name, Japanese puts a middle dot between the first and last name, for example ジェームズ・スミス for James Smith.