please can you help.

[doriangrey64]

i notice that a lot of people on here are typing in katakana, kanji and hiragana but i just wanted to know how i could do that. i have a western style keyboard ie english but i would like to know if there is something that i can download to help me write in any of the three. thanks for your help......

[doriangrey64]

i said that i wanted to write in kana and kanji but that doesnt mean i can read it hahaha. but thanks for trying, it would be good if you wrote that again all in english because i cant understand it.

[Mark Gardner]

こんにちは。
わたしはＰＣが使います。　パソコンで日本語の書き方について。。。
I　think most people with PCs are using the IME facility in windows.
You can get instructions about how to set it up from websites such as.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6 ... fault.mspx
http://www.msu.edu/~bellbri2/ime.html
or others by Googling IME Japanese. Or, try Windows help and search for IME.

[doriangrey64]

ok thanks.

[massabr]

There are some Japaneses word processors out there. If you are interested I can pm you with some software names.
All you do is type in the Japanese word processor, copy and paste it here.
また後で

Massa

[theresachan]

If you're using Windows:

Go to
> Start
> Control Panel
> Language
> Add other languages

go under the tab called > languages
On the top, it says 'Text services and input languages'
click the 'Details...' button

A new window pops up
go under the tab 'Settings'
It says 'Installed services' in the middle
Click the 'Add..' button

Another new window pops up
Choose 'Japanese' under the pull down list
The keyboard input box should be automatically ticked.

Click all the 'Apply' and 'Okay' buttons.
Now you should be able to type Japanese~

When you want to type in Japanese, click the 'EN' button on the bottom right of your windows taskbar and change it to Japanese. Of 'cos there's a keyboard shortcut that you can use, 'Alt' + 'Shift'.

Or you can always MSN / email me at and I will show you how to do it again.

[circa86]

if you type in both English and in Japanese quite a bit I highly recommend having Japanese as your main language in the Settings.

with Japanese as the main default language to type, direct input is always the default setting, so this will allow you to type in English. and when you want to type in Japanese, you simply press Alt+~ (~ is the key right about the left Tab and right below escape)

I find this to be much easier than using the crappy language bar in windows, although if you need more options, it is nice to turn the language bar on.

good luck!

[osekihan]

How to write in japanese and put it on your computer is in http://www.japanesepod101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9.

[Stonepilot]

日本
Why is that particular word we should pronounce it as nihon, but the actual on reading 日 is nichi. can somebody help me how to use kun and on reading because I can't understand a thing about how to use them.. onegai

[JockZon]

One kanji could have different sounds but there are no real rule that says when to use which... You just have to learn the word and the context. One thing though, if two kanjis a read together they tend to use the same system (on- or kun-yomi) but that's not a rule.

Ganbatte

[Bueller_007]

日本
Why is that particular word we should pronounce it as nihon, but the actual on reading 日 is nichi. can somebody help me how to use kun and on reading because I can't understand a thing about how to use them.. onegai

Kun-on differences have nothing to do with this.

When kanji ending with the sound "chi" (in the on-yomi) are placed before other kanji in one compound, the "chi" almost always becomes "small tsu".
When kanji starting with "h" (in the on-yomi) are placed after one of these "chi" kanji in a compound, they almost always become "p".

日本=にっぽん

I don't know how にほん came about as a reading, and I don't imagine most Japanese people do either, but it's possibly a bastardized version of にっぽん.

[Garyuchin]

excerpt: Answers.com
Nihon, Nippon, and Japan are all ultimately the same word. In A.D. 670, Japanese scholars who had studied Chinese created a new name for their country using the Chinese phrase for “origin of the sun, sunrise,” because Japan is located east of China. In the Chinese of the time (Middle Chinese), the phrase was nzyet-pwun–kwuk, "land of the rising sun.” The form was simplified to Nip-pon-gu or *Ni-pon-gu, the latter developing to Ni-hon-gu. The forms Nippon and Nihon of today are the same as these, minus the “country” suffix. The Chinese themselves took to calling Japan by the name that the Japanese had invented, and it is from the Chinese version of the name that English Japan is ultimately derived. In Mandarin Chinese, the phrase evolved to Rìběnguó, an early form of which was recorded by Marco Polo as Chipangu. The early Mandarin word was borrowed into Malay as Japang. Portugese traders may have brought this word to Europe; first recorded in English in 1577, spelled Giapan.

Note: there are variant explanations of the actual reasons for the adoption of "nippon," and of the vectors for the name "Japan" being introduced to Europe, but most explanations are within a reasonable range of the foregoing.

As to the "nihon" vs "nippon" pronunciation, the official use is "nippon" for official documentation regarding the country, but retains "nihon" in compounds such as "nihongo." Banknotes show "nipponginko" but newspapers use "nihonginko" for the Bank of Japan.