ゆきやま vs 雪山 kanji for yuki yama


I'm doing a design for a Japanese restaurant in a mountain town, the name of
it is Yuki Yama. I'm curious about using ゆきやま vs 雪山 for the Japanese
characters. I'm Chinese so I'm inclined to use 雪山 but I'm unsure about it
since ゆきやま is pronounced "yukiyama".

Thank you for reading this and for providing any help.




`ゆきやま` is the **kun-reading** of `雪山`. That is, `ゆきやま` and `雪山` are pronounced
by Japanese people exactly in the same way. (Well, 雪山 also has a rare on-
reading, but you can forget this for now.) If you don't know the reading
system of Japanese kanji, please [learn it before
anything](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji#Readings).

But that does not mean you can use whichever you like. Since you are a
designer, you know that just producing something grammatically understandable
is not enough. Since this is a proper noun, there is usually only one correct
way to refer to the name. Visual identity of an organization/product is very
important; `iPhone` is always `iPhone`, not `IPhone` nor `i-phone` nor
`IPHONE`. Likewise, if the name of the restaurant is `ゆきやま`, you usually
cannot use `雪山` or `ユキヤマ` (katakana) or `Yuki Yama` (English alphabet). See:
[Why is Toyota typically written in Katakana?
(トヨタ)](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/31078/5010)

Rather than asking here, you have to ask your client, and clarify what is the
most formal name of the restaurant, and what are the alternative ways to refer
to it. Usually your client has his/her own opinion and will tell you which
they prefer.

* * *

**EDIT:** Oops, maybe your restaurant is located somewhere outside of Japan
and is mainly targeted at non-Japanese people? Is the real name of the
restaurant `Yuki Yama`, and do you just want to add some Japanese characters
as an decoration? If that's the case, and if even the restaurant owner doesn't
speak Japanese well, then you may have to choose between `雪山` and `ゆきやま`. To
the eyes of native Japanese speakers, `雪山` would look relatively authentic and
traditional, whereas `ゆきやま` would look friendly and casual.

