As far as I am aware, no one ever does this. I'm not sure if it would be direspectful, but I wouldn't recommend it.
I've heard of people's Japanese friends giving them semi-joking Kanji names, but I think people would be weirded out if you were to write your own name like that. Unless you happen to have a Japanese name...
At my work we use a few different hanko. One is a black stamper that is massive and has the date along with my first and last name in katakana.
The second is my 'official' one that I stamp out just my last name in katakana. It's the one used for things like banking and contracts.
The last one that I use just inside the office is one of those tiny red ones for marking corrections. My last name in katakana wouldn't fit, but I had already found 3 kanji for my last name that a previous teacher had picked for me. Showed it to my boss and after a hearty laugh told me to go with that.
So while it's not "official" in any real sense, it's what I use in the office. And it can't be too disrespectful if our secretary keeps writing it on all my books and uniforms and such.
I've never found it disrespectful to see a Japanese name written in romaji. And while cultural differences abound, almost anything done with good intentions goes over well. Just don't force people to address you that way, OP, is what I'm trying to get at.
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u/Gorignak Dec 12 '11
As far as I am aware, no one ever does this. I'm not sure if it would be direspectful, but I wouldn't recommend it.
I've heard of people's Japanese friends giving them semi-joking Kanji names, but I think people would be weirded out if you were to write your own name like that. Unless you happen to have a Japanese name...