In dealing with foreigners, Japanese will write their given name followed by their family name. It is important to remember that this is not how Japanese use their names. Saying "Jiro Tanaka" is as strange to their ears as "Johnson Jimmy" would be in English.

Also, unlike in English, where it is acceptable to say "I am MR. Johnson," thereby clearly indicating that "Johnson" is the family name, in Japanese, one never uses san with ones own. When introducing themselves in English, Japanese will almost never say "I am MR. Tanaka;" Rather, just "I am Tanaka." Since most foreigners are familiar with only a few Japanese family names, this is a source of much confusion, as it is easily to misinterpret the lack of the use of "Mr." as implying that the names used is their "given name."

Westerners would also be advised to use the terms "family name" and "given name" when talking about Japanese (and Asian) names, as the use of the common terms" first name" and "last name" will only add to the confusion, since this is not the common order in Asia.

Japanese rarely use another Japanese person's given name - it is reserved for intimate friends and family members. Business people always refer to their colleagues by their family name, usually without the honorific "san." Foreigners should follow this example. However, within the company, Japanese usually use a person's business title in place of "san," (e.g. Tanaka-bucho, (Director Tanaka) instead of "Tanaka-san."