The cd's state "Shiina Ringo" , the majority of the net conscious order it that way, you go to japan and ask about "Shiina Ringo" -- thats what people recognize. So, Shiina Ringo.

Shiina Ringo is Japanese, so do it the Japanese way, i.e. Surname, Given name.

Hebon shiki is de facto standard because it is useful for english speakers
while it IS ugly.

I found spanish speakers pronounce 'ji' as hi when I was watching
Boston Red Sox game spanish broadcast.
They call Red Sox pitcher おかじまOkajima as おかひま Okahima.
I think it is an example that Hebon shiki is not good for non english speakers.

I absolutely hate that other system, "Siina" and all that jazz. Frecklegirl is totally right, its hideous. Even if it is supposedly the proper way, people dont familiarize with it. When my friends type to me, and say "syaberu" instead of "sha" I get thrown off really easily. When you make a whole sentence with that sort of talk, it really becomes a game. We all know Y's dont make an SH sound.

I personally think its silly that she keeps changing her name. Though I suppose its not as bad as Prince turning his name into a...symbol. An icon -_-

Nooooooo!


However,

Because > -> Ringo.


A compromise however could be . And that's a hefty compromise if you ask me. Because "ö" is pronounced close to the u in "burn".

just call her, 'yumiko'

and she'll be happy

A girl I knew from college was named Yumiko. *secret* I sort of had a crush on her but never did anything about it. */secret* The last time I saw her, I bumped into her on the streets of NYC with her new husband (who I also knew) and she was looking a little pregnant. So anyway I think Yumiko is a really nice name.

And about the name order I totally prefer not to switch Japanese names. Shiina Ringo, not Ringo Shiina. But still, I get confused with romanization of names. (Unless the last name is Tanaka or Yamaguchi or something common.) I've seen ads for musicians with the named swapped, for instance I saw a photo of a Nakashima Mika billboard ad, which said "Mika Nakashima".

^
It's like Elton John. Why the heck does he use his name turned around. I'll never figure.

Well in any case that works better than "Reginald Kenneth Dwight", his given name.

That looks awkwardly painful.