Cant read or input Japanese characters?

[nice gaijin]

I saw this post on another site, I remember a few people mentioning that they were having problems with Japanese characters or that they'd lost their windows cd. I hope this helps:

You can write Japanese on your computer using the Japanese IME (Input Method Editor) - avaliable from the Microsoft website, which I have linked to below. You'll need the Japanese language pack as well, which is a separate download in Windows XP
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Japanese language pack for Windows XP (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=90&p=&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=24A66277-CD9F-4332-A6F1-52B85A6470BD&u=http%3a%2f%2fdownload.microsoft.com%2fdownload%2 fOfficeXPStandard%2fie_ja%2f1%2fW98NT42KMe%2fEN-US%2fie_ja.exe)
Japanese Input Method Editor for Windows XP (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=90&p=&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=CEED31CD-15A9-4B86-AFE5-E77A095599F3&u=http%3a%2f%2fdownload.microsoft.com%2fdownload%2 fOfficeXPStandard%2fimejpn%2f1%2fW98NT42KMe%2fEN-US%2fimejpn.exe)
Japanese Language Pack and IME for other versions of Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=46&p=1&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=803A623E-C311-4591-A593-B0E24A6F38E8&u=http%3a%2f%2fdownload.microsoft.com%2fdownload%2 fie5%2fIME%2f5.02%2fW9XNT4%2fEN-US%2fJAMONDO.exe)
:cool:

[Godon]

Ah, yes, I have that. I thought I would use it but I never really have. I need to study the written language more... I need to start memorizing Kanji >.o

But, yes, for those without the CD that is rather useful. I'd just download the cd myself though..

[nice gaijin]

yes but this is legal, and a much smaller download :)

[NERD]

Mac users (at least from OS X) don't have to worry about that. Go Mac Go!

[Henjin]

And if you regularly use the IME, be sure to set your default locale to Japanese and keep the IME active all the time. That way all you have to do is hit 'alt + ~' to switch between regular english input and hiragana.

[Chinpokomon]

And if you regularly use the IME, be sure to set your default locale to Japanese and keep the IME active all the time. That way all you have to do is hit 'alt + ~' to switch between regular english input and hiragana.

*Kisses Henjin*

Thank you SO MUCH for that little tidbit of information. I have always used the mouse to switch between alpahumeric and hiragana input. Oh, here's a tip that I know about. 'alt + shift' will change between input locales (US-English vs. JP-Japanese)

*Realizes than Henjin is a guy, quickly wipes mouth and pretends nothing happenned*

[koku]

OMG i love you. I can read the ???s now! ^^.

2 questions:

Does this only pick up one kind of font? Or is the type of font I see dependant on the user?

#2. the IME thing is for Micorosoft Office XP :(

But I can read things in Japanese now! Yay! I went to kanji-a-day.com and I can read what pops up! That alone helps out.

P.S. The font they use for kanji-a-day IMO is too bold. I don't like the way everything connects :P

Oh and let me add, thank you.

[Henjin]

The Japanese support pack should add at least 3/4 fonts. I have probably around a hundred other installed that I got from some torrents.

And HeWhoseNameShallNotBeSaidBecauseIt'sJustSoNasty: I happened across that information myself a while ago. I was so happy to hear it, since like you, I had to alt + shift then use the mouse to start typing in hiragana. So much easier now.

Also, you should be able to get an IME installed w/out Office XP.

[nice gaijin]

yep, alt+shift to switch between input languages, and atl+~ to switch between input modes. You can also convert anything you just wrote into katakana by hitting f7 (before hitting enter). Once IME is installed it should work fine with any program that supports asian characters, including Office. If you ever have problems with viewing a webpage, check the encoding for it, usually Unicode UTF-8 will display things correctly.

With the basic IME fonts you're limited to just a few choices, and it's really hard to find good, full font sets for Japanese. A friend of mine recently gave me quite a stockpile of fonts; I can make them available once I get them sorted through (and if someone reminds me to do it)

[Henjin]

Yeah, but if you keep Japanese as your default input locale, all you have to do is hit shift/tilde. And it definately is hard to find good Japanese fonts.

[I ARE 1031]

Thanks for...nothing!

[deepbluevibes]

Thanks for...nothing!

ban this guy, he just wants to start shit.

[mediocre]

I always did "shift-caps" to switch to hira/half-width alpha. Not sure what the difference is.　Though alt-~ is better since the red line is now gone.

[Godon]

Yeah, but if you keep Japanese as your default input locale, all you have to do is hit shift/tilde. And it definately is hard to find good Japanese fonts.

Yeah, anyone have any good ones? I just have the default shit.

[I ARE 1031]

ban this guy, he just wants to start shit.

Man, it's called a joke.

[Henjin]

Yeesh. Why does everyone feel the need to swear so much? Gets on my nerves.

Anyway, the fonts I have are like 200+ megs total. I can't distribute them. Sorry.

[koku]

やさしい外人さんとねこさんも好きです。私を手伝う (てすだう)のはありがとうございましす。

It's most likely too formal but it'll have to do ^^. Thanks to both.

[nice gaijin]

いえいえ、ちょっと手伝いたかっただけ。

ところで、ナイス外人って呼んで下さい。　＾＿＾

[Henjin]

Not too formal. Just polite.

[I Monkey]

I installed it but I still don't know how I can type in Japanese...>_< If I press alt + shift or alt + ~ nothing happens o_O I don't understand >_< How can you keep your "IME" active? Do I have to open a particular programm for it?('cause I can't find it after I installed it)

[Henjin]

Right-click on your taskbar, and go to 'Toolbars.' Does "Language Bar" show up? if so, make sure it's checked. Then you should see a little 'EN' in blue on the taskbar, w/ a bunch of other stuff. That's the IME.

[I Monkey]

できた！！！ありがとうごうざいました！！

[I Monkey]

BTW, you guys, if I download "Japanese Input Method Editor for Windows XP" it also gives me iTunesSetup.exe. I don't want to have that on my computer... what do I have to do?(I've got to download IME again because it got installed in my brother's dossier and he deleted it). Hope someone is still reading this...

[Henjin]

Huh? Why would Itunes come w/ a Microsoft download? Are you downloading it directly from microsoft's site, or from a third-party? I wouldn't trust it if it tries to install something else. Get it directly from MS.

[Scott]

Henjin, if you want to get the the fonts to me, I can probably get them online for distro.

[ukimalefu]

Mac users (at least from OS X) don't have to worry about that. Go Mac Go!

Yup! :D :cool:

[Mechz]

Gah, IME keeps telling me I need Office XP >:/

I guess I'll just have to stick to JWPce...

[Henjin]

I think the download is for Office XP and the normal XP one is only available if you install it off the CD. I don't think you can download it.

[I Monkey]

Huh? Why would Itunes come w/ a Microsoft download? Are you downloading it directly from microsoft's site, or from a third-party? I wouldn't trust it if it tries to install something else. Get it directly from MS.

I have no idea :confused:. But I downloaded it from the link above :confused: Thanks for your advice :D

[Henjin]

If you have XP or 2000, just install it off the CD.

[Mechz]

Stupid Gateway didn't give me a CD.

[Henjin]

Yeah, OEMs rarely do...

Don't know what to tell you, I built my own system and bought my own XP disc... Did they copy the CD to your HD (probably not). Look for a folder named 'i386' or something.

[Scott]

Uh, OEMs almost always give you a CD for Windows. It's usually in their 'recovery package'.

[Henjin]

Uh, OEMs almost always give you a CD for Windows. It's usually in their 'recovery package'.


Umm.. no they don't. Usually the 'recovery CD' is just an image or something similar. Very few give you the actual Windows install CD.

[Scott]

Umm.. no they don't. Usually the 'recovery CD' is just an image or something similar. Very few give you the actual Windows install CD.

I've rarely seen a computer that came from an actual company that did not come with an actual Windows CD, whether or not it was branded for them. Yes, they come with recovery images as well, but they also came with a CD with just the base operating system. This is after working with computers in a job-to-job basis over the last eight years or so...

[nice gaijin]

Just bought a Sony laptop for a client that had no OS cd, everything is on a recovery partition. This is not the first time I've seen this either; i see less and less OS cds packaged with computers these days.