Installing Japanese Input On Your Computer
“A program is a spell cast over a computer, turning input into error messages” - Anonymous
The first thing you have to do is be able to type in Japanese. I’m sure many of you can do that already, but for those of you who can’t (and for those of you who want to get a little better at typing in Japanese), keep reading on. Whoever you are, it’s probably a good idea to (at the very least) skim the next couple pages to make sure you know what’s going on.
Installing An IME
An IME is an “Input Method Editor.” This is an application that lets you type in other languages, using your keyboard (versus using a Japanese keyboard, or something like that). There are a few IME applications out there, including ones that come with your computer. I’m going to cover MacOSX and Windows in this chapter (sorry Linux users, I’m just going to assume you’re more tech savvy than I am and can do all this because you’re using Linux and awesome like that – still, you get a forum post written by a fellow member to help you out!). Whether you have a Mac or PC, I’m going to have you install the same IME (made by Google) because I think it’s easier to use, it’s cross platform, and better overall (at least in my opinion).
If you have another IME installed (like koteri for Mac or Windows IME) you can keep that one if you’d like. If you don’t have any IME installed, or want to try something new / better, keep reading.
Step 1: Download Google’s Japanese IME (the download page is in Japanese, but the application itself is not – just hit the big blue button that says ダウンロード).
Step 2: Follow the instructions on installing it on your particular operating system.
Step 3: It’ll look different depending on your operating system, but Google IME may be ready to go on your computer. If not, try these steps:
Windows XP
- Open your “Control Panel” by clicking the Start button and clicking “Control Panel”
- Choose “Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options”
- Choose “Add Other Languages”
- Choose the “Languages Tab” and then click “Details”
- In the “Settings” Tab click “Add.” Do not change the Default Input Language (for example, “English”)
- Select Google’s Japanese Input Method under “Keyboard Layout / IME”
- Hit Okay, and do a little dance
- An “EN” will appear in your start bar. Click this and change to あ (Hiragana) to start typing in Japanese
Windows Vista
- Open your “Control Panel” by clicking on the Start orb and clicking “Control Panel”
- Open “Clock, Language, and Region”
- Click on “Change keyboards or other input methods”
- Click “Change keyboards…” in the “Keyboards and Languages” tab
- Click “Add…” in the “General” tab
- Select Google’s Japanese Input Method
- Hit Okay
- An “EN” will appear in your start bar. Click this and change to あ (Hiragana) to start typing in Japanese
Windows 7
- Open the “Control Panel” via the Start Orb
- Open “Clock, Language, and Region”
- Open “Change keyboards or other input methods” via the “Regional and Language” tab
- Click “Change keyboards…” in the “Keyboards and Languages” tab
- In the “General” tab, click “Add”
- Select Google’s Japanese Input Method
- Confirm and hit “Okay”
- An “EN” will appear in your start bar. Click this and change to あ (Hiragana) to start typing in Japanese
Mac OS X
- Open “System Preferences” from your dock or Applications folder
- Click “Language & Text”
- Choose “Input Sources”
- Click the Google Japanese Input box and choose “Hiragana” and (optional:) “Romaji” and “Katakana” – I’d leave half width katakana and full-width Alphanumeric unchecked.
- Up at the top right of your screen there should be a symbol showing your language. Click on that, and choose “あ Hiragana” to start typing in Japanese.
Linuxy Things
Once you’ve gotten Japanese set up on your computer, you’ll be ready to start typing. Here’s the big question, though: How do you type in Japanese?