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Knowledge, once achieved, becomes gratuitously available for the benefit of all. It is through this free gift of the knowledge acquired by the experiments of some members of society that general progress is possible, that the achievements of those who have gone before facilitate the advance of those who follow.... At first, a new good is commonly "the caprice of the chosen few before it becomes a public need and forms part of the necessities of life. For the luxuries of today are the necessities of tomorrow." Furthermore, the new things will often become available to the greater part of the people only because for some time they have been the luxuries of the few.

Friedrich A. Hayek

This is an unofficial webpage of Macintosh Japanese Language Kit (hereafter JLK) presented by me, an individual by the "handlename (/on-line alias)" of Du Yuan. For those of you who are not very familiar with JLK, here's a brief description of it from Apple:
The Japanese Language Kit is system software that supports Japanese language input on a non-Japanese operating system. In other words you can add the JLK to a Roman (European) operating system and input Japanese characters using a Japanese localized or WorldScript-savvy word processor or other application. This lets users include Japanese text in letters, presentations, and reports. Users can also work with files created using KanjiTalk, Apple's Japanese version of the Macintosh Operating System.... Once installed on a Macintosh, the Japanese Language Kit places Japanese as a secondary script into the computer. It adds extensions, a Japanese character input method, language resources, fonts, a user dictionary, and TeachText Japanese. The language resources provide script-specific information for line direction, word boundaries, date, time, and number formats. The original operating system is used, so there is no need to keep an additional system on the hard drive.

Currently, there are available only two major solutions for the Mac users to have Japanese environment on their Mac: KanjiTalk and JLK (NOTE: Just to read Japanese on WWW browser, Shodouka or Elixer could provide a fast solution. I Like Japan allows you to read Japanese texts without KanjiTalk or JLK). Then why choose JLK rather than KanjiTalk? Because JLK...

Costs Less: JLK comes around $149 (US) whereas KanjiTalk costs about $299 (see LEC). In addition, JLK + English system users can also benefit from much cheaper price of the system than KanjiTalk when updating to higher version (e.g. System 7.6 -> $99; KanjiTalk 7.6 -> $240).

Updates Faster: Not JLK itself but English system. For the Macintosh is after all a product of American company, JLK + English system users can inevitably enjoy faster system updates too (so far as JLK is compatible with the new system; the latest MacOS 8 is compatible with the version 1.2 of JLK).

Is More Readily Available: JLK is available in the United States and Canada through software resellers. KanjiTalk, on the other hand, is available only through AsiaSoft and through KanjiTalk authorized dealers.

Takes Less Memory: For example, KanjiTalk 7.5.3 requires about 10MB(!), while English System 7.5.3 typically needs mere 5MB (see MacPower). The same goes for memory occupying hard drive.
And so on and so forth. Of course KanjiTalk does excell JLK in some other (but trivial, IMHO ;-) respects. But if you are OK with English user-interface, JLK would be your choice. If you are presently living in an English-speaking country and considering purchasing a Mac, JLK's got another advantage; because you will likely obtain the latest English system software with the purchased hardware for free.



No, I am NOT writing this to voluntarily advertise JLK for Apple Computerェ (not in the least Apple Japan;p)! It's only that JLK plays a big part in my Macintosh life as it is responsible for much of the performance of things I do on my Mac; therefore, in making an affirmative webpage of the computer I like, I simply chose JLK to be the main theme. I hope this humble page of mine would contribute something to those Mac users who are enjoying their MacLife in a similar way to me.
Besides, JLK has rather been one h*** of a persistent trouble, providing as such a far-from-perfect Japanese environment. You have to do a lot by yourself to refine it, indeed. The Page of JLK is here to help you solve some of such problems.


  1. Problems: shows some of major problems caused by JLK (updated: 3/26/1997).
  2. Solutions: introduces MUST-HAVE utilities to cope with the problems mentioned in the above section. (updated: 2/20/1998).
  3. Inside JLK: explicates what will be installed by JLK 1.2 CD, and how to make a para-JLK out of KanjiTalk (updated: 9/26/1997').
  4. Japanese Fonts: introduces shareware/freeware Japanese fonts (updated: 4/2/1997).
  5. Links: links to other webpages about JLK (updated: 3/26/1997).
  6. Miscellanea: introduces the Japanese versions/equivalents of several popular sharewares/freewares (updated: 7/29/1998).
  7. BBS contains the latest info about JLK. If you have any question regarding this page, leave a message here (NOW TESTING!!).