I don't use my real name which I love very much. What do you want others to call you? Do you ask people to call as you like? It is not customary to ask that in the Japanese context, but I have actually "forced" people call me Rikki at work. Do you know why? Last night when I came off from class at 10:00, I had another mourning guest who my mother and I taught decades ago. It is great that we become friends over time. She is now a loving and artistically-talented mother of two. She calls me Rika-san instead of Professor as you are supposed to do as a civilized person. I believe in "pretence of equality (in the level of knowledge and experience)" in my class of any level, in which case, Professor may not be quite suitable. That's why I invented the former nickname, "Ricky." A Japanese would feel too strange calling your teacher simply by their first name. It would be too impolite. But a foreign-sounding nickname would work, I thought. It would be a good practice of "r" sound which we do not have, as you know. So, Rikki has been a strategic tool at work for several years now. But recently I decided to use it with foreign friends because it would be a bit complicated to pronounce "(R)ika-chan" in the correct pronunciation. I added my foreignness (not necessarily Asian sounding, though) to English speakers by replacing the ending -cky with -kki. But to be honest, I truly love my real name, 理佳☆♪★ ( R/L-ika), followed by -chan instead of -san, if possible.　 It was a gift from my dear father who left this world too early when I was barely 6 years old.