Furigana on a Japanese Resume: Writing Your Name and Address Readings

Furigana — the small phonetic reading written above names and addresses — is one of the most-fumbled parts of the rirekisho for foreign applicants, partly because it seems too small to matter. It matters: it is how the interviewer knows what to call you.

ふりがな vs フリガナ — the one rule

Look at the label printed on the form. If it says ふりがな (hiragana), write the reading in hiragana. If it says フリガナ (katakana), write it in katakana. Matching the script of the label is the entire rule — mixing them is the classic error.

Foreign names

• Write your name in the main field exactly as on your residence card (usually Latin letters, family name first for Japan: SMITH JOHN).
• In the furigana line, write the katakana reading: スミス ジョン. Even above a フリガナ label, foreign names take katakana.
• Pick one katakana spelling of your name and use it everywhere — resume, bank, phone contract. Inconsistent spellings cause real paperwork pain later.

Your address reading

Most foreigners do not know the reading of their own address — 中野区 is なかのく, but is your 本町 ほんちょう or ほんまち? Do not guess: put the address into a maps app or search 「your-address 読み方」, or check mail from your city office, which often prints the reading. Building names in katakana (メゾン, ハイツ) are already phonetic — copy them as-is. Numbers need no furigana.

Small details that read as careful

• Align each furigana block roughly above the word it annotates, not one long string.
• Leave the furigana line empty for parts written in katakana or numbers already.
• Postal code (〒) and phone numbers never take furigana.
• On the MHLW layout the labels differ slightly from JIS — read them, do not assume.

Writing your name in katakana

There is no single official spelling, but there are conventions. Japanese has no consonant clusters or final consonants (except ン), so extra vowels appear: Smith → スミス, Grant → グラント. Long vowels use ー: Dean → ディーン, Paul → ポール. R and L both become ラ行: Laura → ローラ. Sounds such as “v” can be written ヴ or バ行 (Victor → ヴィクター or ビクター); either works, but choose one and keep it. If your name already has a common katakana spelling, use that — Google your name plus “カタカナ” to see how others write it. Our katakana name tool suggests a starting point.

Middle names: include them if they appear on your residence card, with a space or a middle dot (・) between parts: スミス ジョン ロバート or スミス・ジョン・ロバート. Keep the order the same as the main name field.

Names written in kanji

Applicants from China, Taiwan, or Korea may have names in kanji. If you write the kanji in the name field, the furigana gives the pronunciation you want to be called by. Many people use their native pronunciation in katakana (王 → ワン), while others use the Japanese reading (王 → おう). Both are acceptable; the important thing is that it matches how you introduce yourself at the interview and on your other paperwork.

A complete example

On a form labelled ふりがな: name field SMITH JOHN, furigana スミス ジョン (foreign names stay in katakana). Address field 東京都中野区本町3-5-2 メゾン中野201, furigana とうきょうと なかのく ほんちょう — the numbers and the katakana building name need no reading, and the kanji part of the building name (中野) can be given as なかの if you like. On a フリガナ form the address reading becomes トウキョウト ナカノク ホンチョウ.

Let the editor handle the format

ResumeJP's editor gives name and address their own furigana fields and places them correctly on every template, so you only need to get the reading itself right. Start in the editor, and if the rest of the personal-information block is unfamiliar, the step-by-step guide covers it field by field.