windsor wrote:
> What can you do if your surname is long and extremely difficult to 
> katakana-ise? I wouldn't want people to have to struggle through my 
> surname, with about 50 small tsu's and other annoyances, whenever they 
> want to address me.
> 
> Can a gaijin shorten his surname when converting to katakana?


You can register an official alias. You will still have to use your name 
as written on your passport and alien registration card but for general 
usage you can be anything you want. Some people have unfortunate results 
when they have their name written in katakana. A name like Jonathan has 
an automatic さん　on the end, ...サンさん sounds silly. My name ends up 
with ..ソンさん so I use my given name exclusively.

Two other reasons you might like to do this: to make sure name is 
written as you want it, not how Japanese think it should be (they can be 
quite stubborn about this); and to ensure your middle name is dropped. 
ie your name will often be written FAMILYNAME, 1stGIVEN 2ndGIVEN and you 
will end up being called by your middle name.