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?
Answer
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
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