English/Japanese Keyboard on Macbook?

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Level 1

21 points

English/Japanese Keyboard on Macbook?

Hi there,

I'm planning on ordering a new Macbook in the next two days from the Apple Store.

I'm wondering, however: I'm planning an extended stay (1+ years) in Japan in the coming few months. Is there such a thing as an English/Japanese keyboard? I know the OS obviously does Japanese, but I'm wondering about the keys. I don't know Japanese yet, but I will be taking classes whilst there, so I figure it might be best to get such a keyboard to be prepared.

Any info would be appreciated as I would really love to order this in the next couple of days. 🙂

Thanks!

Posted on Aug 31, 2015 1:20 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,995 points

Aug 31, 2015 1:24 PM in response to Nat Harari

I don't believe such a keyboard exists for the MacBook. But you could look for an external keyboard to use.

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Answer 2

Nat Harari Author

Level 1

21 points

Aug 31, 2015 1:27 PM in response to Kappy

Ah that's a shame. I wanted it built in on the top, so to speak. The reason I'm getting a Macbook is because of the amazing portability. I guess I'll look for some stickers or something to put on the keys then.

Actually, I just saw a picture of the Japanese keyboard. It seems to have QWERTY English/Roman letters on the keys as well? If so, that's what I was looking for. Is that the case?

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,995 points

Aug 31, 2015 1:32 PM in response to Nat Harari

If so, then, yes, that's what you want. But it must be an Apple option for the MacBook. I do not see a picture of it on the Apple site, so I cannot verify that.

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Answer 4

Nat Harari Author

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21 points

Aug 31, 2015 1:38 PM in response to Kappy

I tried the chat just now but they appear to be closed, and their phone number is not responding at the moment. So I guess I'll try again in a little while.

I didn't see a picture of it on the Apple site either. I just did a Google search for "Macbook Japanese Keyboard" and saw several examples of Macbook Air and others with Japanese keyboards with QWERTY as well.

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,995 points

Aug 31, 2015 1:42 PM in response to Nat Harari

Best to verify it for the MacBook because the keyboards for other models may well be different. Hate for you to order it then find it wasn't what you expected, and it's not user-changeable.

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Answer 6

Nat Harari Author

Level 1

21 points

Aug 31, 2015 1:57 PM in response to Kappy

I found my answer. I talked to a chat help guy and he pointed me to this page:

https://support.apple.com/en-il/HT201794

As you can see, the Japanese keyboard does indeed come with QWERTY. It's a tad bit different size for some of the keys (I'm used to dealing with that with other countries I've been in), so that's not much of a biggie. I can adapt to that. 🙂

Just figured I'd post it here for anyone else looking for the same sort of information.

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Answer 7

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,986 points

Aug 31, 2015 2:29 PM in response to Nat Harari

For some info on writing Japanese with your Mac, see

http://redcocoon.org/cab/mysoft.html

The most common way Japanese is input does not require any Japanese on the keys. You type the latin letters and they are automatically converted to kana and Kanji. A Japanese keyboard is mainly useful if you want to input kana directly.

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Answer 8

Nat Harari Author

Level 1

21 points

Aug 31, 2015 2:38 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Interesting! Thank you. I was unaware for the most part.

So basically, I don't really need to get a Japanese keyboard and can just stick to English for now and learn to input phonetically?

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Answer 9

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,986 points

Aug 31, 2015 2:55 PM in response to Nat Harari

Nat Harari wrote:

So basically, I don't really need to get a Japanese keyboard and can just stick to English for now and learn to input phonetically?

That's correct.

I have heard that some Japanese learners find the Japanese keyboard helpful -- they practice directly Kana input and it helps them memorize the Kana. But as far as I know most people just use an ordinary keyboard and input phonetic latin.

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Answer 10

Nat Harari Author

Level 1

21 points

Aug 31, 2015 3:01 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Thank you! That was a real help. I guess I'll go with the English keyboard then, after all. I read the site and I just googled more on it and it sounds like that would be fine for me.

Very much appreciated. 🙂

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