How Do You Type in Japanese

I always see people with japanese characters on their screen... how so? A second question I have is, how do you spell my name in Katakana... It's Daryan by the way. I think I know...but I don't know how to type in Japanese. Thank You!! >w<

Konnichiwa Kitty Cupcake! I unfortunately only know how to type in Japanese on a PC, so if you have a Mac, hopefully someone else will be able to tell you. Anyways, here are the steps to be able to type in Japanese: 1. Go to the start menu on your computer 2. Open the Control Panel 3. There should be a button labeled clocks, languages, and regions or something similar 4. Click the change/add keyboards link 5. A window should pop up labeled "Region and language" 6. Go into the Keyboards and Languages tab if you are not already there 7. Click the "Change Keyboards..." button 8. Another window should appear labeled "Text Services and Input Languages" 9. On the right, there should be a button that says "Add..." 10. Yet another window will open, this one should be labeled "Add Input Language" 11. Scroll Down the List to the "Japanese (Japan)" Link and press the + button 12. A list should appear underneath with check boxes. Check the "Japanese" and "Microsoft IME" checkboxes. 13. Press "OK" 14. It will close the window, and you should be able to see your primary language in the Installed Services window, followed by Japanese. 15. Click "Apply" and then "OK" at the bottom 16. Now, when you are typing, simply press "Alt+Shift", then "Alt+Caps Lock". This will allow you to type in ひらがな. Be sure to press "Enter" after each word/before pressing "Space" or else the computer will automatically change the Hiragana to Kanji, but the Kanji is not always correct. ;) 17. If you need Katakana, follow the steps to turn on Hiragana, but then press "Alt+Caps Lock" once more. 18. To get back to Hiragana, press "Alt+Shift" 2 times. If you want to go back to your primary language, press "Alt+Shift" only 1 time. If you are confused/can't get any of the steps to work, I'll try and clarify more. Also, to spell your name in カタカナ、I would guess that it would be ダリアン (Dariann) or　だーりアン (Daariann) depending on how you pronounce it. Hope this helped!

It's a bit easier on a mac. System preferences -> language & text -> Input Sources tab -> Scroll through the list and check "Kotoeri" and "Hiragana" "Katakana" There should be an icon now on your toolbar, which you can click to get a drop-down menu to switch between Hiragana and Katakana. Shortcuts are also listed. You can type in katakana while set to Hiragana by holding shift. When typing in hiragana, your characters will be underlined. Press the spacebar to cycle through kanji for the underlined text. You can press 'enter' after typing the characters you want to stop underlining them and continue typing. You'll get the hang of it if you try it out. Other writings for your name might be ダリャン if the "yan" bit is short,　ダリュン if you pronounce the "an" as "un" and not "anne", or ダリアーン, which would be like Da-ri-anne.

I'm glad someone was able to answer the keyboard question for a Mac. :)

Thank you both very much! I greatly appreciate it! \[=^w^=]/

If anyone's interested for Linux Mint or Linux Ubuntu/Kubuntu, here's how you do it: 1. Open "Language Support" 2. Click on "Install/Remove Language" 3. Check "Japanese" and click "Apply Changes" 4. On keyboard input method (below install/remove button), select "ibus" from the list. 5. Close language support 6. Open dash and type "Keyboard input methods". Open up the app interface. 7. Select "Input Method" tab and select from the dropdown: Japanese -> Anthy and hit "Add". 8. Close the interface. Now, when in a typing box/text box, hit ctrl + ~, or ctrl + left_shift (I can't remember correctly which because I changed my key bindings) to start/stop the converter. And there you have it: type in romaji and it will automatically convert to hiragana. Hit space to convert hiragana to Kanji, F7 to convert hiragana to katakana or enter to leave it be. Hope this helps for Linux users :)

ありがと　みんな！！！！　I got it!!! ありがと　ございます！！！！

どもありがちございます わかりました　！！！

I use a Japanese keyboard for ps3. I have a Japanese account. I think windows 7 makes it easy then windows XP. I have windows 7 now, but didn't try setting it in Japanese yet. edit: I tried it on a non Japanese keyboard and it works. It's the same way on windows 7. すごーい 　

I tried changing to the Japanese keyboard but it didn't work! When I click on "apply and add" it just quivers and doesn't go anywhere. I reread your directions several times but no dice. Can you help me further?

what operating system do you have Alan-san ?

Thanks for the reply. I have windows 7.

hmmm. so you tried the instructions for windows and nothing appears in the right side of your task bar ? It should appear as "ENG" or "EN" for English. You can click it and change to japanese as Microsoft IME. If it appears and you can switch to Japanese, you can click it there to change between hiragana mode and romaji mode (or use the combinartion: ctrl + `). That only after you switched to Japanese. Otherwise, there must be something you are doing wrong from the steps for activating the Japanese IME, but I'm not sure what....

I followed your instructions and it still doesn't work. I even had someone who is extremely knowledgeable about computers try it and it didn't work. She couldn't figure out why.

I'm really sorry to hear that. Maybe it's a windows bug or something...

Thanks for all your help anyway!

Well, now I don't have to keep click each damn symbol on the virtual keyboard :P