Do you need a Japanese Keyboard? No, probably not…
So, do you need a Japanese Keyboard? I am going to be blunt and just give you the answer. No. It can be nice to have one but you don’t need one. I have never used a Japanese keyboard nor have I ever felt like I was missing out without it. It is more of an aesthetic thing than anything else.
But, to be fair there is one exception. That is if you are using the Kana input method. I will explain what that and how to get started typing in Japanese on your computer.
INDEX
It’s the Software, not Hardware
You don’t need a Japanese Keyboard to type in Japanese on your computer. Most Japanese would not have any trouble using a normal keyboard to type in Japanese. A Japanese keyboard is just a normal keyboard with Hiragana characters written on a normal qwerty keyboard. So, the alphabet characters are all the same and still there with some Japanese characters in the corner of the keys.
Well, then how to Japanese people type in Japanese? That is easy, they type the same way you would in English but get a menu that pops up to select more characters. It is similar to the predictive text you use for smart phones when typing. So, in order to type in Japanese you have everything you need from a normal keyboard. Except, you just need to install Japanese keyboard support on your computer. I will explain that a little bit later.
First though, there is a reason why there is Japanese written on the keyboard however. That is because you have two types of keyboard layouts you can choose from when typing Japanese. They are Kana Input, and Romaji Input.
Kana Input and Romaji Input
So, there are two input methods or keyboard layouts you can choose from to type Japanese. They are the Kana input, and the Romaji input. Some people find it easier to type in Romaji because they are more familiar with the Roman alphabet, while others prefer kana input because it allows them to type the actual Japanese characters.
Romaji Input
Romaji means Roman characters, and this input layout is the same Qwerty layout we all know and love. So, you would type Japanese like you were using the alphabet. The software on your computer then will magically change the alphabet characters into Japanese hiragana as you type! Then you hit the space bar to choose from a list of Japanese characters, other symbols or to confirm your selection. Below you can see what you would need to type to get the various letters
- a → あ
- ka → か
- ki → き
- sa → さ
- shi → し
- tu / tsu → つ
- sha / sya → しゃ
Mostly you will need to type to alphabet letters to get a Japanese kana.
Kana Input
Kana input works the same way as the Romaji input. The only difference is that the layout is based on Japanese Kana, this would be Hiragana or Katakana, and so the layout is different. So, this is a way of typing Japanese characters using the hiragana and katakana directly. This way you can type just one key for a Kana character instead of two like you would with the Romaji Input.
This is where you would benefit from a Japanese Keyboard. Having the Japanese letters written on the keyboard can help you see where the correct keys are. So, that way you don’t need to memorize the location of every character. It may also be able to save you some typing time.
- a → ち（chi）
- s → と（to）
- d → し（shi）
- f → は（ha）
- g → き（ki）
- h → く（ku）
- j → ま（ma）
- k → の（no）
- l → り（ri）
You can see see above that most characters only require one key. But, the amount of time it would take to learn this layout compared to how much time it would save you I can’t say. You will need to experiment yourself to see if it is worth it for you.
Type in Japanese without a Japanese Keyboard
Using a virtual keyboard or online keyboard tool
Installing a Japanese language pack on your computer
Japanese Keyboard on Microsoft
On a Microsoft computer you will need to install Japanese language support onto your computer. This is call the Microsoft IME. It installs an icon in the bottom of your desktop and gives you some tools for searching characters, and even drawing kanji to look them up. The steps to install are below from Microsoft’s website.
Japanese Language Pack installation (Windows)
Japanese Keyboard on macOS
Typing Japanese on a Mac words much the same as on a PC. You get options to switch between Katakana input, or Japanese input, and have predictive text and so on. You can install it following the steps below:
Do you need a Japanese Keyboard?
A Japanese keyboard can be useful for Kana input as it has the Japanese characters written on the keys, but it is not necessary. You can type in Japanese without a Japanese keyboard with the Romaji Input method. Still, even if you do use the Romaji input method you will need to learn what keys correspond to which Japanese sounds. Such as the small tsu (っ) or even the small vowels, ぁぃぅぇぉ.
How to type small tsu っ
Whatever method you decide to use, is up to you though. If you would like to learn more about learning Japanese and the Japanese language feel free to browse around. I have several other articles about a variety of topics on the Japanese language.
Resources
- Japanese Language Pack installation (Windows)
- Japanese Input Method (Mac)
- Japanese Input Method User Guide (Mac)
