Re: NON -SUMO: Japanese for te PC

[Wim Van Roy <vanroy@imec.be>]

Hi,

I didn't see any answer yet to this question, so here is what I know.
The info below is incomplete since all my Japanese stuff is running on a
Mac, but I hope it will get you started.

I don't know of any Windows software that has the same features as the
Language Kits on Mac. These give you the full capabilities of the
Japanese version of the operating system, while keeping all menu's,
messages, etc. in English. If anyone knows of such software I would be
interested as well.

Unless you install the Japanese version of Windows you will have to
enable individual programs:

- Netscape Communicator and Internet Explorer can both *display*
Japanese, certainly in the browser, and I think also for email. Check
their homepages for the installation of the additional fonts.

- I don't believe you can *write* Japanese with them. So you will have
to install a Japanese word processor, type the text there and then paste
it into Netscape or IE.
One commercial product that runs under English Windows is NJStar:
    http://www.njstar.com/
    http://www.njstar.com/njstar/japanese/
There used to be an older shareware version, but I can't locate it anymore.

- There is a lot of information about Japanese software on Jim Breen's
web site. Possibly it has a freeware text editor:
    http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/japanese.html


This site also has the freeware J-E dictionary Edict. This is very handy
since you can copy/paste unknown words directly from your email. The
dictionary is at
    http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/j_edict.html
For Windows you need the following files:
    EDICT
    KANJIDIC
    JDIC
    (JREADER)


I hope this helps,

Wim (aka Shiroyama)


Takanomizu@aol.com wrote:
> 
> We just got a new PC and need Japanese software to read and translate to
> English(so we can write to Japan). I know this is garbled, but I'm not sure
> what I'm asking for.
> I thought I saw a previous post with free downloadable software.
> OR, can anyone give me advice on the best to buy?
> 
> Thanks,
> Irene