Japanese Text Input Guide for Mac OS X
Introduction: Japanese is written with what is known as a two-bit font, since it has so many characters (2000 or so?) and three alphabets. (The Western one-bit font method was originally designed for alphabets of less that 200 characters.) This makes inputting Japanese somewhat more tedious and complex that just plain ol typing English. Think of this as a challanging puzzle. Do NOT think of it as an Eastern mind torture. Follow the easy steps below to get started. Have fun!
The First Time You Try This, You Must Set Your Preferences for Japanese Input
1. Log in as usual. 2. Click on the blue Apple in the top left-hand corner of the screen. 3. Click on "System Preferences..." 4. After the System Preferences window opens, click on the International icon. 5. Click on the "Input Menu" tab.
6. Click the boxes for Japanese Kana Palette,
Kotoeri, Romaji, Hiragana, and Katakana. 7. Quit "System Preferences..." (Click on the red dot at the top left-hand corner of the window.)
Continue
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Now we're ready to go: start Microsoft Word. Then . . . In the upper right-hand corner of the screen, you will see an American flag (this is the "International Input Menu"). Click on it and a menu will drop down. Click on Show Input Mode Palette: You should see a floating palettesomewhere on your screen like this: Click on the . From the Font menu, choose a Japanese font, such as Osaka. Begin typing, using the English keys to sound out the Japanese words. In the example below, I typed hi to get the Japanese hiragana (See Picture A). Hitting the Space Bar will convert the hiragana into kanji (B), hitting the Space Bar again will give you a scrolling list of kanji from which to choose (C). Once you have found the character you want and it's in your line of type, hit the Return key to set it in place.
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5. Scroll up or down the list to find the kanji you want, then just double-click on it to place it in your typing. For more accurate choices, only try to use one or two kanji at a time, not whole phrases or sentences. 6. The floating palette lets you switch between hiragana/kanji, katakana, and Romaji. Just click on the button that represents the type you want to use. Clicking on the American flag puts you back in the good ol' regular way of typing. /
Western Alphabet
Turn the page for EXTRA HINTS
Special Hints for Finding the Kanji You Want
Punctuation: Check out the chart on the last page of the Reference Table (gold pages after this) or try the Character Palette (find it under the International Input menu - shown as either an American flag or or depending on your last choice of input method). Japanese has no spaces between words, so only hit the space Bar after a period or to change hiragana to kanji. If you are trying to find a multi-syllable word and cant get the right kanji, try one syllable at a time. If one spelling for a syllable doesnt work, try a similar spelling. For instance, try shya instead of sha. Or for help in finding the proper input sequence for some special combinations, look in the Reference Table. To locate the kanji for long-O sounds (such as in Tky), type ou not oo (for Tky, type toukyou). If you arent sure if the o is long or short, try short first, then long. For the verb iku (to go), type yuki (the traditional pronunciation for iku). For a couple of verbs, which I cannot recall at the moment, if you type in the present form (-masu) you wont be able to find the kanji. However, for some unknown reason, if you type in the negative form (-masen), the correct kanji will show up. Dont ask me why. Typical computer magic. ;-) Clicking on kanji in the scrolling list that have a small after them will show a list of examples.
At the bottom of most scrolling lists you will find (in gray) . Click on this to see even more choices:
