The topics briefly discussed here are:
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Display/Input of Japanese Characters
Browser versions since the mid-2000s have been able to display Japanese web pages. Input of Japanese requires a few steps. If you are interested in this easily-obtained capability, read on.
You may want to print this page out for easy reference.
- For users
of Windows 2000, XP, Vista or Windows 7, you already have the files necessary;
you may just need to change the settings and restart. For Vista and 7, go to Control Panel>Clock Language Region>Change Keyboards or Other Input Methods. Simply click on: Change Keyboards>Add>Japan>Microsoft IME. Refer to the comments below about entering Japanese with the IME. For Windows XP and 2000:
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Windows XP
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Windows 2000
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Open Regional and Language Options in Control Panel.
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Open Regional Options in Control Panel.
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On the Languages tab, under Supplemental language
support, select the Install Files for
East Asian Languages check box.
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On the General tab, under Language settings for the system,
select the check box next to Japanese.
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Click OK or Apply. You may be prompted to insert the
Windows-CD ROM or point to a network location where the files are located.
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Click Apply. You may
be prompted to insert the Windows-CD ROM or point to a network location where
the files are located.
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You will
be asked to Restart.
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You will
be asked to Restart.
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You’re
ready to view and input Japanese. For
further information jump to step 4.
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You’re
ready to view and input Japanese. For
further information jump to step 4.
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- For
users running Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows 95, or Windows NT 4.0:
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Not Running Office XP
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Running Office XP
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Go to the
Input Method Editor (IME) page from Microsoft
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Go to the
Microsoft download page for Input Method Editor (IME) that
is compatible with Office
XP running on pre-Win 2000 systems.
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Choose
from the pull-down menu Japanese-with
Language Pack (a 5.2 meg .exe file). Microsoft's explanation of IME compatibility
is here.
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Click on Japanese IME Microsoft's
explanation of IME compatibility is here.
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Save the JAMONDO.exe file to your desktop.
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Save the imejpn.exe file to your desktop.
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Locate
the JAMONDO.exe file on your
desktop. Double-click to begin
installation.
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Locate
the imejpn.exe file on your
desktop. Double-click to begin
installation.
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You will
be asked to Restart.
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You will
be asked to Restart.
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You’re
ready to view and input Japanese. For
further information review steps below.
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You’re
ready to view and input Japanese. For
further information review steps below.
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- Japanese Web Page Display (IE
4.0 or greater, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape)
Once you've
downloaded the language pack described above, if you pull up a web page
that displays Japanese, it should display properly (instead of the
gobbledygook that otherwise displays.) If you're still getting
garbage, try going to View, Encoding, Japanese (Auto-Select) (Auto-detect
in Firefox and Netscape).
- Reading Japanese Email
After
installing the IME above, Japanese text emails should display properly,
except for the subject line, which may appear as mojibake (jibberish)
unless in roman letters. If the email text is not displayed
properly, try going to View, Encoding, Japanese (Auto-Select) (Autodetect
in Mozilla Firefox and Netscape).
- Input Method Editor (IME) - Sending Japanese Email
After
installing the IME as described above, a new icon appears in the lower
right hand tool bar, next to your clock. When your cursor is located
in HTML input areas and in Word/Excel 2000 and newer, this icon toggles
between EN (English) and JA (Japanese). A Japanese IME converts
keystrokes into kana (phonetic) and kanji (ideographic)
characters and words. As keystrokes are entered, the IME attempts to guess
which character or characters are desired by the user. Please note
that in pre-2000 Microsoft products, only the message area is HTML.
(not the to:, from:, or subject: areas)
After installing the IME and language pack described above, you can create
and send an email readable in Japan by selecting: Format,
Encoding, Japanese (JIS), in Outlook Express & Outlook; View, Encoding, Japanese(JIS), in Netscape and
Firefox.
On-line Dictionaries
Here's my favorite
on-line look-up type Wa/Ei, Ei/Wa Dictionary(US) It is my favorite because the results are displayed in both kanji and hiragana. Here's a rudimentary online dictionary that is English to ro-maji Japanese. Aruku and and Excite are Japanese language Ei/Wa and Wa/Ei dictionaries that RMs have suggested for use. The Wa/Ei requires non-ro-maji input.
Japanese Software and Japanese Windows
Most Japanese software, including Japanese versions of Microsoft
Products, will only run under Japanese Windows (WIN-J), available from Japanese
bookstores in major US
cities. Some Japanophiles partition their hard drives into WIN-J and
WIN-E partitions. When WIN-J is running, pull down menus and commands are
all displayed in Japanese. I understand English software generally runs
fine on WIN-J, but I have no personal experience.
Translation Software
Assuming you can read Japanese and have installed
the Japanese IME described above, try this web-based translation site from Excite. It translates
either from Japanese to English or vice-versa, but its translations are quite literal.
Listening to and Watching Japanese Programs
In the US, 'TV Japan' can be subscribed to via Dish Network for about $30 extra per month. It is run by NHK and provides a wide variety of mostly Japanese broadcasts. A free alternative is to check out the NHK World website. You can listen to a 10 minute Japanese broadcast of NHK News on demand, as well as download podcasts of Japanese lessons.
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