Name in Japanese A Arthur

Arthur in Japanese

アーサー
Katakana
アーサー
Hiragana
あーさー
Romaji (Hepburn)
Āsā

This is the established spelling used for Arthur in Japanese dictionaries, books and media.

How Arthur sounds in Japanese

Read it one katakana at a time:

アー Ā
サー

Full reading: Āsā

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Why Arthur is written in katakana

In Japanese, foreign names are written in katakana — the angular script reserved for words borrowed from other languages. So on a form, a name tag, a delivery slip or a news article in Japan, Arthur appears as アーサー. This is the correct and respectful way a non-Japanese name is represented; it is not a kanji "translation". A Japanese reader sees アーサー and immediately reads it by its sound, Āsā.

Katakana is a syllabary, so English sounds are fitted to the nearest Japanese syllables and every consonant (except ん) is followed by a vowel. That is why Arthur becomes アーサー rather than a letter-for-letter copy. More than one katakana spelling can be reasonable for the same name, which is why we flag whether a spelling is a long-established one or a natural default.