As featured in the New York Times.
For general tips on Japanese computing, I recommend:
For more depth, see the definitive work of Ken Lunde, who has given us
Meanwhile, if you always wondered what are the differences between JIS, Shift-JIS and EUC, I suggest you check out
Many of the Web pages related to Japan are in Japanese, and thus require a Japanese-capable browser such as Netscape 2.0 or later. You will also need to have Japanese fonts and language processing software installed on your computer; the University of Washington offers some tips on how this is done. UW also has links to other Japanese-capable Internet packages here.
Most of the general tip sites listed above discuss browing Japanese web pages; see also the specific advice at Georgia Tech.
If you don’t have Japanese fonts install on your machine, you can also try Shodouka, a web-based service that displays the Japanese fonts for you.
Another important package you may need for Japanese correspondence is an E-mail package that supports the ISO-2022-JP interchange code. An excellent description is maintained by
or
Most Mac users use Eudora-J, a version of which is available for free from its manufacturer, Qualcomm. It is also possible to use this verison of Eudora-J with English menus and help (thus suitable for gaijin who only occassionally need to send Japanese E-mail).
Qualcomm recently released a Japanese version of its Eudora Pro software, as a commercial product in a dual Macintosh/Windows configuration (i.e., the same CD-ROM supports both platforms). It seems to be readily available in Akihabara computer stores.
Some specific tips for Macintosh owners include:
Most students of the Japanese language have one of these public domain dictionaries installed on their computer:
Both are available from Jim Breen’s FTP site in Australia or one of the U.S. mirrors.
Of course, you can buy the same Japanese OS and word processor that are used in Japan. Since you are reading this in English, I’m assuming you want something more oriented towards either a) the Japanese language learner; b) someone fluent in Japanese but primarily using his/her computer for English.
First you need install Japanese fonts and Japanese-language processing. The three options are:
The fonts are only half the battle. Many popular word processors (e.g., Word 4.0, 5.x and 6.x) are not compatible with 2-byte Japanese characters (although Word 98 is). So unless you can settle for SimpleText, you’ll need a Japanese-compatible word processor for your Mac. With either the Japanese Language Kit or KanjiTalk, you can use two regular English-language word processors to enter Japanese text. They are:
In addition, many users feel that AppleWorks (née ClarisWorks) provides adequate word processing capabilities; the English version 4.0 and 5.0 can edit memos in Japanese; it has the added benefit of also providing spreadsheet, databases and graphics support. Finally, Word 8.0 is reportedly is fully compatible, although I’ve not confirmed this directly.
See also Apple’s list of multilingual web resources.
I know less about using Japanese on English Windows, but advice should be available at
or the sites providing general tips above.
This page was featured in the CyberTimes "Travel Log" column; see Stephen C. Miller, "A Language Lesson," New York Times, May 16, 1998.