FAQ FOR SCI.LANG.JAPAN - SOFTWARE FOR JAPANESE INFORMATION PROCESSING FOR DOS
OPERATING SYSTEMS, TOOLS, ADD-ONS, ETC.
DOS/V
DOS/V allows non-Japanese PCs (i.e. PCs that does not have the Kanji
fonts in ROM) to display and enter Japanese. The fonts and conversion
tools are all software. The main caveat is: you cannot enter/display
Japanese in applications that were not designed for working with
DOS/V (like non-Japanese Lotus, Word, etc.) unless they can use
ANSI.SYS to display the characters. English-based applications must
run on the English environment - there is a command to change between
them. Other caveat: software designed for Japanese PCs, like NECs,
will not run on DOS/V. There seems to be also a problem with the
printing - Japanese will not work for printers that does not have the
Kanji fonts in their own ROMs too. The last version is J5.02/V. You
need also a VGA or better and at least 2 Mb of memory to run it.
Price is about 17.000 yen.
DICTIONARIES AND TRANSLATORS
Jim Breen's Edict - Freeware Electronic J-E E-J dictionary
There are always new versions of the database, click here to see the latest one. Can be obtained from FTP sites:
LEARNING
Mark Edward's Kanji Guess
Kanji quizzes program, shareware, can be found in FTP sites:
Kanji Flashcard Package
For the first 204 kanji. Display and information only. From FTP
sites:
Gakusei
Gakusei, from Barham Software, is a DOS-based elementary Japanese
grammar tutorial. It is well-suited for low-end or older PCs with
minimal hardware. From the lesson browser choose one of fifteen
lessons. In the exercises following the lessons you can type
responses using Kana keyboards. Use the built-in dictionary to find
forgotten words and view conjugated forms. From Lesson 1, you will
view Roomaji and Kana characters. You can make screen prints on
compatible printers. Gakusei won't replace your teacher, but it can
help you master beginning Japanese at your own pace. Avaliable in FTP
sites:
The shareware demo version contains only the first six lessons. The
full lesson set is available for $40 + ($4 US & Canada, $7 other)
shipping from BARHAM SOFTWARE, 15507 S. Normandie Ave. #245, Gardena,
CA 90247-4028, USA, e-mail 70700.2225@CompuServe.com or call
1-800-RAN-EASY (1-310-327-4862). System requirements are EGA or VGA,
DOS >= 3.3, memory >=640K, 1MB free hard disk, HP LJII or Epson
LQ-compatible printer.
Japanese I for DOS
Basic self-study course for oral, written and grammar, includes reading vocabulary and oral quizzes. Sound. Covers hiragana, katakana and 38 basic kanji. Us$ 41.95, contact Conrad Haller, Educational Tutorial Software, 10811 Ashton Ave, Suite 209, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA. tel. 213-470-6205. Review in Mangajin #8.
Verb Conjugation v.1.0
Verb conjugation. Us$20+s&h, contact Language Learning Lab, 707 S.
Mathews G-70, For. Lang. Bldg., Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801,
USA. Review in Mangajin #8.
Smart Characters for Students
Word processor, vocabulary tutor and font editor for Asian languages,
text display includes furigana for all kanji, includes radical/stroke
dictionary for reading, Us$ 79.95, contact Frank Kaupman, Apropos
Inc. 8 Belknap St. Arlington MA 02174, Tel. 617-648-2041. Review in
Mangajin #8.
Eastword
Hiragana/katakana tutor with menu-driven interface, kanji are large and easy to read, includes stroke order and mnemonics. Us$ 99.95, contact Pacific Rim Connections, 3030 Atwater Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA, tel. 800-745-0911. Review in Mangajin #8.
Gambare-kun
Kanji/compound exercise package featuring stunning color graphics (requires VGA and HD) sophisticated learning environment (skill-level tracking, score-keeping and reporting). We don't know the price. Contact Hilary Eastwick-Field Lingotek 56 Rauhuia Crescent, Titirangi-parau, Auckland, New Zealand. Review in Mangajin #8.
Kanji-flash V.0.97
Kanji flashcards keyed to the book "Basic Technical Japanese", thorough approach to exercises, several learning modes. We dont know the price. Contact Craig VanDegrift, 9605 Barkston Court, Potomac, MD 20850, USA tel. 301-279-2678. Review in Mangajin #8.
Verb Explorer J
Computerized system for analyzing and practicing verb and adjective constructions, drills by verb type. Us$ 225. Contact Larry Cross, Japan-America Institute of Mgt. Science, 6660 Hawaii Kai Drive, Honolulu, HI 96825 USA, tel. 800-54-JAIMS. Review in Mangajin #8.
Kintaro Sensei
Interactive language exercises + culture, four levels of instruction, romaji, katakana, hiragana, several hundred kanji. Us$ 600+. Requires hardware Voice Production Unit. Contact Jack Walraven, Pacific Educational Sys., 915 Woodhall Drive, Victoria, BC Canada V8X 3L7 tel. 604-727-6668. Review in Mangajin #8.
Let's learn Nihongo
Comprehensive package to learn grammar, kanji with sound, uses a computer-controlled tape player and hand-writing recognizer. Needs 2 empty slots on the PC. Us$ 3900. Contact Richard Kurtzman, Seikosha America Inc., 10 Industrial Ave, Mahwah, NJ 07430, USA. tel. 201-327-7227. Review in Mangajin #8.
Kana Sensei v2.1
Shareware quiz program for beginning and intermediate students with
quizzes on hiragana, katakana as well as vocabulary and basic
grammatical patterns. Users can also create their own quizzes. Quiz
modes are english to japanese, japanese to romaji, japanese to
english and japanese to romaji/english. Includes some kanji. It is
available at FTP sites:
You can contact the author (Mike Chachich) at
mdchachi@vela.acs.oakland.edu or P.O.Box 290-232 Waterford, MI 48329,
USA.
WORD PROCESSING AND TYPESETTING FOR DOS
Moke - Mark's Own Kanji Editor - Shareware Japanese Text editor
Version 1.1 is shareware, can be obtained from ftp sites:
Version 2.1 is commercial, Us$ 69.95+5s&h (10 s&h outside USA and
Canada). KiCompWare, P.O.Box 536, Appleton, WI 54912. USA Tel.
612-773-8621
NJStar - Shareware Japanese Text editor
Version 2.1 is shareware, can be obtained from ftp sites:
The same version with drivers for printing can be ordered by
Us$49+10s&h from: Hongbo Data Systems - Tel 61+2-399-9876, PO box
866, Kensington NSW 2033, Australia
Ambassador - Commercial Bilingual Document System
Allows you to compose letters in Japanese, English, Spanish, French without knowing the target language. Requires DOS/V. Versions in English/Japanese, English/French, English/Spanish, French/Japanese. Call 617-489-4000, Fax 617-489-3850 Language Engineering Corporation, 385 Concorde Ave. Belmont, MA 02178, USA.
JLateX
There are two freeware versions from LaTex available in some FTPs - I
tried to install one and it was very hard to make it work, I don't
even remember the steps ! Somebody that made this, please tell me how
!
Demacs - Japanese Emacs for MSDOS
Now sources are part of Mule. Binaries available at FTP sites:
Word Perfect 5.1j
WP5.1j works under DOS/V, but has its own FEP - WPFEP, which doesn't require any extended memory. So to run WP you need only WPFEP.sys and about 400K conventional memory. To print texts from WP is a problem, because it supports only japanese printers. Price: about 40.000 yens. Does anybody have more information on it ?
TERMINAL EMULATORS, ETC.
HTERM
A communication program for MS-DOS which will display ASCII, JASCII, JIS1, and JIS2. Can be obtained from FTP sites:
KD (Kanji Driver) by Izumi Ohzawa
Kanji viewer/ front-end-processor for Kermit. Can be obtained from
FTP sites:
YKH
YKH is a program for DOS that emulates a VT320 terminal while properly displaying Japanese text. It is able to connect via modem through com ports 1 and 2, or over local-area networks using the DECNET LAT and DECNET CTERM network terminal protocols. Unlike most Japanese terminals, YKH is able to fix Japanese text that has been damaged by escape-code stripping. YKH requires at least an 80286 CPU, the extended keyboard BIOS, a VGA graphics adapter, and about 128K of free RAM. It can be downloaded from FTP sites:
OTHER SOFTWARE
Click Rafael Santos (santos@mickey.ai.kyutech.ac.jp) Last Update: March 25, 1995