Japanese IME hiragana toggle keys?

Question

Hello! I installed the Japanese IME and changed my localisation to Japan so I could display Japanese in programs that don't normally support such characters such as Skype. However, when I am in the Japanese IME, I can't seem to toggle to hiragana with a keyboard shortcut? I can toggle to the EN from JP and vice versa, but I want to stay in the JP mode since clicking on hiragana each time is a pain. Any help for that?

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Answer 1

Hey moronicus_lithog,

Please check these keyboard shortcuts for Japanese IME.

Keyboard shortcuts

ALT-~ (tilde): Cycles between kana and direct input mode

ALT-SHIFT: Cycles through available languages

ALT-CAPS_LOCK:  Switches to katakana input mode

CTRL-CAPS_LOCK: Switches to hiragana input mode

SHIFT-ALT:  Switches between English mode and Japanese mode.

Control - ~: Switches between the current input mode and the English mode within the Japanese IME.

TIP: Switching between Hiragana input mode and Direct Input mode through the language bar is tedious. Instead you can switch by pressing Alt-Tilde (the key below ESC on your keyboard).  So, if you need to type Japanese, press Alt-Tilde and start typing. When you are done press Alt-Tilde again to switch back to English. To achieve the same result when in Japanese mode, press Control - ~.

Hope this answers your question.

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Regards,

Shinmila H - Microsoft Support

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Answer 2

Hey moronicus_lithog,

Pressing <ctrl>+<capslock> key combination should take you to Hiragana.

In the same way, pressing Alt-CapsLock takes you to katakana.

See if this key combination works for you.

Alternatively, here’s other way of toggling between the two scripts.

1. Click Language mode "EN" of the Language Bar. 

2. Select "Japanese".

Language mode "EN" will be on Japanese mode "JP".

3. Click the Input mode "A" and select "Hiragana"

 If you set "non-Unicode Programs" which is an Optional Step, the menu of the Language Bar is in Japanese, if you do not take this option, it is in English.

If you cannot view Japanese characters properly even after installing Japanese fonts, please try this option.

After setting this option, you need to Restart Windows.

1. Open Control Panel from Start menu.

2. Open "Clock, Language, and Region".

3. Open "Change keyboards or other input methods" of "Regional and Language".

4. Open "Change system locale..." of "Administrative" tab.

5. If a dialog box (User Account Control) appears to ask your permission to continue,

6. Click "Continue".

7. Select "Japanese (Japan)" from the pulldown menu.

8. Restart Windows.

Refer:

Change the system locale**http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Change-the-system-locale**

Please refer my post on Thursday, December 10, 2009 3:36 PM for the same discussion.

**http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7programs/thread/5917ab33-00a1-498e-ba5f-6b51a8afce6b**

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Regards,

Shinmila H - Microsoft Support

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

Answer 3

Thank you, that seems to work although I thought I had tried that combo earlier... huh! Can you also tell me what the keyboard shortcut is to do the reverse of A->hiragana so I can go from hiragana->A? Thank you!

Answer 4

Perfect, thank you!

Answer 5

Hi moronicus_lithog,

My pleasure. For any further concerns, you may post your query at Microsoft Answers so that we can assist you with the same.

Have a great day ahead.

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Regards,

Shinmila H - Microsoft Support

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.