(The image above is shown to help you what to choose. You need to follow the link to download the program.)
How to display and type Japanese characters on your PCs |
Ver 2.2, 10/09/07 Updated |
This page explains the ways to display and type Japanese (and other Eastern Asian characters) on your PCs. To do this, there is no need to buy a Japanese keyboard. (Note that I am not directly associated with Microsoft. The following links are provided for you convenience.)
Use Shodouka. The easiest (but not the fastest) way to view Japanese. It works for all kinds of computers, but it doesn't provide the way to type in Japanese. If you cannot change your PC's setting, this may be the only option.
Visit the site below and read the instruction.
Microsoft
Global Input Method Editors (IMEs) Further Enhance East Asian Text Input
Yes. => Follow the
link above.
No. => Follow the
link below.
Download and run the following program: (this is for free - you don't
have to pay anything.)
Microsoft Global IME 5.02
You need to choose "Microsoft Global IME 5.02 for Japanese - with Language Pack" (choose other languages if necessary).
(The image above is shown to help you what to choose. You need to follow
the link to download the program.)
Run the downloaded program and read the help file. This program is all you need to read and type Japanese on non-Japanese Windows.
1. Choose a column (text area) of Internet Explorer where you wish to type in Japanese text.
2. Then click "EN" icon in the task tray (or the "notification area" - usually at the bottom-right corner of your display) and choose "JP" .
This "EN" or "JP" icon will be enabled ONLY WHEN you move the arrow pointer to a column on Internet Explorer (or Outlook Express) where you can actually type text, and when you click once (so that the arrow pointer should change to an "I" caret). Once you leave the column, this icon will change back to EN. For more information, read the help file of IME.
Do you see the "JP" icon?
To toggle on/off of Japanese input mode quickly, hold [Alt] key and press the [~] (tilde) key. The tilde key is the same as the [`] (single backquote key), and usually located immediately below the [Esc] (Escape) key, which is at the top-left corner of your keyboard.
You can copy&paste to/from any software that supports Japanese. For example, you can use the following column. Type in any Japanese text here, then select, copy and paste it to Word.
If you don't need to type Japanese characters but wish to display Japanese characters, you can try the following methods.
Internet
Explorer 5.0 or better, choose [Tools] from the menu, then, choose [Windows
Update].
Internet
Explorer 4.0, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/default.asp . Well, you may
need to upgrade to 5.0 or better, after all...
(The menu shown above may not be exactly the same as yours.)
In Windows Update page, you will find the Multilanguage support including Japanese and other languages.
If you cannot alter the setting of your computer, try these Web sites: The Gate of Japanese or Shodouka . These are the easiest (but not the fastest) way to view Japanese. They will convert Japanese characters into tiny images. It takes time if your Internet connection is slow. They works for all kinds of computers, but they don't provide the way to type in Japanese.
If you see only illegible characters where you should be seeing Japanese, you may need to change "Encoding." Try one of these:
(The menu shown above may not be exactly the same as yours. Usually, you will see menu in English - such as Japanese (EUC) etc.)
If you are a Mac user, go to Japanese Language Kit
site at Apple. <http://www.apple.com/macos/multilingual/japanese.html>
Yes, you have to pay for it. Don't ask me why.
UPDATES: They have moved the pages above. I haven't found them yet.
You can use the downloaded Japanese font with Netscape running on non-Japanese Windows. You may need to choose 'Japanese' from [Font] menu of your browser before you can read pages in Japanese.