Can I use my Chinese name as my Japanese name?


Im Chinese and my name is 陈依仁 (Chén Yī Rén). Can I use this as my Japanese
name, and if so how do I read it in Japanese? Or would it be better to use the
Katakana version of my English name which is タン・スジン?




Yes you can of course, as many have said. However, I am not sure why nobody
mentioned that you can also pretty much use the kanji in your name and just
associate to them a Japanese pronunciation as well.

In fact, I think it's important to notice that when it comes to pronunciation
Japanese is quite flexible (especially with proper names) and it is not
uncommon to find kanji in names associated to very peculiar readings.

If I check a name dictionary, I can actually find tens of possible readings
for 陳. Most are similar to チェン. For example you have じん、しょう、ちいん、ちぇん etc.
However, I see also the more Japanese sounding のぼる (given name) or the kind of
particular くわおつく (last name).

And actually, I can even find 依仁 with the reading よりひと (a given name).

Given that these records exists you can very well write your name using
exactly the original kanji (except for using the traditional version of 陈) and
simply say that it is pronounced (last name-first name):

_くわおつく-よりひと_

Or play around and find any other combination you like. Maybe くわおつく sounds a
bit odd, but if you pick a more standard じん for example, I feel that じん-よりひと
or read it the other way around よりひと-じん is quite a cool sounding name. :D




Just from personal experience (purely anecdotal), I came across a few Chinese
people who all used their original characters hanzi pretty regularly in work
scenarios, normally without furigana (name badges, shift schedules, etc).

Anybody who sees your name written thus should know from your surname that you
are not Japanese, they will likely ask you how to read it. The people I
encountered would say the closest approximation of their name that the
Japanese ear could decipher. I would recommend 「チェン・イーレン」.

