Why is a foreign person's middle initial written in romaji instead of katakana?


Foreigner's names are written in katakana, but I noticed that the middle
initial is always written in romaji. I see this on business cards and in
newspaper articles, when a middle initial is used.




Simply, using Latin alphabet can clearly tell us it's the initial. Also it's
shorter.

  * マイケル・ジェイ・フォックス → Is this ジェイ something like "Jay"? 
  * マイケル・J・フォックス → It's meant to be the initial!

Everyone knows how to read Latin alphabet, so there is very little drawback.




Simply, using Latin alphabet can clearly tell us it's the initial. Also it's
shorter.

  * マイケル・ジェイ・フォックス → Is this ジェイ something like "Jay"? 
  * マイケル・J・フォックス → It's meant to be the initial!

Everyone knows how to read Latin alphabet, so there is very little drawback.

