Please forgive me if this is in the wrong section or has been posted before.

I am a 5th generation Japanese Canadian through my father and grandfather and will be looking to visit for a few reasons both fun and serious. Due to a tradition the family picked up upon arriving here I have both an "English" name and a "Japanese" name - the latter having lost its meaning when it got to me. I also look white enough that when my face and family name are presented in the same place at the same time, even in North America, some do a double take.

Any recommendations on which way I should be introducing myself and writing my name (if needed) when I go?

I can write the kanji for my family name - for as poorly as I write to start. I do not, however, have a meaning for my Japanese given name to even have a place to start for that.

Anyway, thank you for your consideration.

Hi

Wont make any difference here..
no such thing as "Japanese Canadian" here..
people are 100% Japanese - or not.

So use which ever name you are most comfortable with

I have a friend who is 3rd generation Japanese. As soon as you open your mouth you'll give it away so I wouldn't worry. Like the above poster said; you're either one of them or a gaijin.

Sorry, I seem to have drowned out the focus of my post.

Let's start with how I should be writing my name in a way that won't get me into any more trouble than needed.

Thank you.

Others will probably answer this better than I can (while new to this forum, I'm already addicted ), but why not spell it out using hiragana?

I have a Japanese friend who spells her first name using hiragana and her family name with Kanji...

OR, I'm sure there are others on this forum who are fluent in Japanese and can help you pick the right Kanji for your name =)

I think it would be better to use kanji for your second name because thisway Japanese will know you have some kind of blood relation with Japan. As for first name use hiragana or better katakana. When you use katakana for your first name others will know that you have lived abroad and have foreign relatives too.