Amanda-O-san,
Sorry I didn't notice this post earlier, so this reply is about two weeks late
It would be useful to know what operating system you're using. I'm using Windows 10 right now, and I can't quite remember how to do it on other operating systems, but if this solution isn't any good to you, let me know what OS you are using and I can look it up.
There should be a language indicator on your taskbar: click on that. You'll get a menu showing the list of languages you have installed, and also
Language Preferences. That's what you want to click on.
The language settings window will open up, and under the Languages heading, you should, again, see the languages you have installed. Click on
日本語 and then on the
Options button that appears.
Now you'll see the Japanese language options here. Look down that page under the Keyboards heading. You should see
Microsoft IME (Input Method Editor) there. Click on that and, again, click the
Options button.
Now you're in the Microsoft IME settings. If you look under the
Hardware keyboard setting here, you'll see an option saying "Use kana input" that can be set on or off.
- On = You type in kana, just like you're describing, using the JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) layout.
- Off = You type just as if you were typing in rōmaji and the IME automatically translates it into kana.
If you need to get used to typing Japanese on an actual Japanese keyboard, then by all means, leave it on. But if you just want to be able to type Japanese more easily, then you can switch it off.
小狼