How to get JIS (Japanese) web pages to display romaji (Roman) instead.

[Kevin Fishburne]

I'm in the process of relearning katakana and hiragana, but for now
would like to be able to view Japanese web sites in romaji. I've
searched high and low and have found nothing.

Is it possible to copy and modify an existing JIS character set (I'm
running Windows XP Pro), then manually replace each Japanese character
with its Roman equivalent? I'll hand draw a font if necessary.

The problem I've run into while attempting this is that I can't find
where the character sets are stored, or the fonts they contain.
They're not in C:\WINDOWS\FONTS or anywhere else as far as I can see,
although they do show up in Character Mapper (though uneditable).

Any alternative solution, or answers to my proposal, are greatly
appreciated.

[Michael Cash]

On 9 Jul 2003 07:29:09 -0700, kfishburne@pinestate.com (Kevin
Fishburne) belched the alphabet and kept on going with:
I'm in the process of relearning katakana and hiragana, but for nowwould like to be able to view Japanese web sites in romaji. I'vesearched high and low and have found nothing.Is it possible to copy and modify an existing JIS character set (I'mrunning Windows XP Pro), then manually replace each Japanese characterwith its Roman equivalent? I'll hand draw a font if necessary.

Excuse me for asking, but wouldn't it be quicker to just relearn
katakana and hiragana?

And anyway, what do you plan on doing about the kanji? You're not
likely to derive much meaning from a site where you can only read the
kana (or the romanized equivalent thereof).The problem I've run into while attempting this is that I can't findwhere the character sets are stored, or the fonts they contain.They're not in C:\WINDOWS\FONTS or anywhere else as far as I can see,although they do show up in Character Mapper (though uneditable).Any alternative solution, or answers to my proposal, are greatlyappreciated.

You knew this was coming....

Relearn the kana.





--

Michael Cash



"There was a time, Mr. Cash, when I believed you must be the most useless
thing in the world. But that was before I read a Microsoft help file."

Prof. Ernest T. Bass
Mount Pilot College


http://www.sunfield.ne.jp/~mike/

[Jim Breen]

Apud Kevin Fishburne <kfishburne@pinestate.com> (sci.lang.japan) hoc legimus:I'm in the process of relearning katakana and hiragana, but for nowwould like to be able to view Japanese web sites in romaji. I'vesearched high and low and have found nothing.

I'm not surprised. Virtually no Japanese web sites are in romaji.
Is it possible to copy and modify an existing JIS character set (I'mrunning Windows XP Pro), then manually replace each Japanese characterwith its Roman equivalent? I'll hand draw a font if necessary.

No. The character U751f for example is pronounced SEI, SHOU, I, U, UMERE,
HA, KI, NAMA, NA and MU depending on context. Most characters have at
least two pronunciations.
The problem I've run into while attempting this is that I can't findwhere the character sets are stored, or the fonts they contain.They're not in C:\WINDOWS\FONTS or anywhere else as far as I can see,although they do show up in Character Mapper (though uneditable).

That's where they'd be. Haven't you got msarial.ttf or something like that.
Anyway, the task can't be done that way.
Any alternative solution, or answers to my proposal, are greatlyappreciated.

Apart from the obvious, such as learning to read *real* Japanese, you could
get a program like kakasi and use it as a front-end to convert text to
romaji.

A better solution is to learn kana, and use a mediator site such as
rikai.com to help you read the kanji.

--
Jim Breen (j.breen(a)csse.monash.edu.au http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/)
Computer Science & Software Engineering, Tel: +61 3 9905 3298
Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia Fax: +61 3 9905 5146
(Monash Provider No. 00008C) $B%8%`!&%V%j!<%s(B@$B%b%J%7%eBg3X(B

[Tobias Diedrich]

Kevin Fishburne wrote:
Any alternative solution, or answers to my proposal, are greatlyappreciated.

You could try this program:
http://www.h.shuttle.de/mitch/japana.en.html

I never tried it myself though and don't know if you will be able to get
it to work on windows. (The older version without the libkakasi
dependancy should work)

--
Tobias PGP: http://9ac7e0bc.2ya.com
This mail is made of 100% recycled bits

[Kevin Fishburne]

Michael Cash <mikecash@sunfield.ne.jp> wrote in message news:<fdbogvce5khbdvem7qbk7toeh0fbnerlue@4ax.com>...
Excuse me for asking, but wouldn't it be quicker to just relearn katakana and hiragana?

That is what I'm doing. See the first line of my post.
And anyway, what do you plan on doing about the kanji? You're not likely to derive much meaning from a site where you can only read the kana (or the romanized equivalent thereof).

In high school I translated about 100 phone-book style pages of a
Japanese anime/video game catalog by comparing the kana to a
kana/romaji chart, which was how I learned kana. I simply wanted to
order items out of it, and was smart enough to realize that
"dorakiyura" and "fuainaru fuantashi" was "Dracula" and "Final
Fantasy". The catalog was mostly katakana, slightly less hiragana, and
significantly less kanji. So are many of the Japanese sites I've
visited. I'm not trying to read Japanese e-books or anything, I just
want to find rare old items online that I can't find anywhere else.

Thanks anyway.

[Makoto Taniguchi]

Don't you mean How DO YOU instead of How to? anyways, what you are
asking is impossible. Please use your conscience.

[Kevin Gowen]

Makoto Taniguchi wrote: Don't you mean How DO YOU instead of How to? anyways, what you are asking is impossible. Please use your conscience.

Go away. No one wants to hear from a hater of the Kinai culture.

--
Kevin Gowen
"The US economy accounts for about one-third of global GDP-greater than
the next four countries combined (Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom
and France)."
- "Advancing the National Interest: Australia's Foreign and Trade
Policy White Paper", Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

[Makoto Taniguchi]

"Kevin Gowen" <kgowenNOSPAM@myfastmail.com> wrote in message news:<beirs4$5m7k6$1@ID-105084.news.dfncis.de>... Makoto Taniguchi wrote: Don't you mean How DO YOU instead of How to? anyways, what you are asking is impossible. Please use your conscience. Go away. No one wants to hear from a hater of the Kinai culture.

I don't even know what the hell Kinai is.

[Kevin Gowen]

Makoto Taniguchi wrote: "Kevin Gowen" <kgowenNOSPAM@myfastmail.com> wrote in message news:<beirs4$5m7k6$1@ID-105084.news.dfncis.de>... Makoto Taniguchi wrote: Don't you mean How DO YOU instead of How to? anyways, what you are asking is impossible. Please use your conscience. Go away. No one wants to hear from a hater of the Kinai culture. I don't even know what the hell Kinai is.

That sort of ignorance very often fuels hate.

--
Kevin Gowen
"It hurts when my 8-year-old daughter wants to go to the movies or even
have a meal at McDonald's and I have to say, 'No, Mommy can't afford
it.' If I had gotten a tax cut, I would spend it on the mountain of
bills that face me. Like millions of other working people, I would have
put that money right back into the economy."
- Margaret Gaffin, who does not understand that to be eligible for a
tax cut, one must pay taxes