How to Set a Keyboard to Write Japanese on Mac OS X

Your Mac OS supports a highly graphical user interface, fully capable of displaying Japanese characters and processing Japanese documents. So get started and turn on the power of your Mac’s Japanese character processing. Set your keyboard up to type characters in Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji in a few minutes. Just click on the System Preferences, and locate the Input menu in the international preferences. Click on Kotoeri and add it to the language preferences. Set the language of your preference to the top of the list of languages. It is a good idea to upgrade your OS X to version 10.3 if you plan to use kanji or Chinese characters routinely.

You need to know the Hiragana and Katakana syllables as they are transliterated into English letters, referred to as Romaji in Japanese. These combinations of sounds are instantly transliterated into Katakana and Hiragana as you type. A menu will appear as you type. From this menu you can select the appropriate kanji by using the arrow keys on your keyboard. Mac’s OS will try to guess which word you are trying to write when it comes to Hiragana and Katakana. For example, when you type words that are of foreign origin to Japanese, then the word processor in your Mac will assume that you want to type a word in Katakana.

In addition to setting the keyboard, you can select a palette for Kana and characters. You can also enable a keyboard viewer. You do this by clicking the System Preferences icon from the menu button on your desktop. Go to the International section and click on the Input menu. Check off all the boxes for the palettes and keyboard viewer. Click the check box to display the Input menu. Press the Option+Shift keys on your keyboard to view all the keyboard shortcuts to change typing options for characters, including accented characters. To create accented characters, simply press the Option key plus the appropriate combination of keys on your keyboard.