Installing Japanese Fonts

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Level 1

8 points

Installing Japanese Fonts

OK, fellow Apple users. I use both English and Japanese on this computer when typing. And I've recently downloaded some Japanese fonts and tried installing them, thinking that when I type in Japanese, I can use them as fonts for when I'm using photoshop, but the Japanese characters actually installed themselves into the English keyboard, and they won't change even if I type in Japanese... So, how do I install Japanese fonts into the Japanese keyboard instead? It'd be really helpful if I knew... Also, I was not sure where to have posted this, but I posted it here, since it's a general Apple problem.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb144/Blibbles/Screenshot2009-11-12at114309PM .png <- This is the problem, the characters are linked to the English Alphabet when they should be linked to the Japanese typing method.

ありがとう

Mac mini

Posted on Nov 12, 2009 3:45 PM

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Answer 1

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,992 points

Nov 15, 2009 3:31 PM in response to Mr. Blibbles

The fonts can't be just for the US Keyboard... That wouldn't make sense.

These fonts seem to be specially styled Kana fonts which one might use for creating artwork of some sort, and for that purpose it may make sense to just put the glyphs at the Latin codepoints for input convenience. Real Japanese fonts are much larger and have thousands of Kanji characters in addition to the Kana, with all characters at their agreed Unicode codepoints. Some examples beyond those that OS X itself installs can be found here:

http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Japanese.html

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Answer 2

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,992 points

Nov 12, 2009 4:10 PM in response to Mr. Blibbles

<- This is the problem, the characters are linked to the English Alphabet when they should be linked to the Japanese typing method.

If you get Japanese characters when you have the US keyboard active (US flag at top right of the finder), these are most likely decoration fonts in non-standard encoding and cannot be used with the Kotoeri IM. You will need to find other ones.

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Answer 3

Mr. Blibbles Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 15, 2009 2:42 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

So then the problem lies with the people who supplied the fonts... But, that's weird then, because they distribute it to the Japanese. It's clearly a Japanese site.

http://www.i2f.org/

The fonts can't be just for the US Keyboard... That wouldn't make sense.

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Answer 4

Ariela1

Level 1

0 points

Dec 9, 2009 10:37 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

I just purchased a MacBook Pro and have not been able to figure out how to use the Japanese font. I went to Font Book, highlighted several fonts I know to be Japanese (MS PMincho, for example) and clicked "add fonts." The fonts seem to have been added, but I don't see a U.S. flag on the upper right hand corner, and there seems to be no language bar that I can locate in order to change the font from English to Japanese.

Can someone kindly help? Need to send a Japanese message out tonight! Thank you.

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Answer 5

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,992 points

Dec 10, 2009 5:19 AM in response to Ariela1

Go to system preferences/language & text/input sources and check the box for the Kotoeri IM you want to use, plus the box for "Show Input Menu in Finder." Then select your IM in the "flag" menu at the top right of the Finder and type. Hit the space bar for Kanji selection if necessary.

It's important to understand that languages are not changed by switching fonts, but by switching keyboard layouts/input methods. The font takes care of itself after you do that.

Just ask again if further questions.

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