Working with Kanji

JWPce contains a number of features to make dealing with kanji characters easier. How to enter kanji characters into your document was covered erlier. This chapter contains descriptions of a number of other kanji related features.

  • Character Information
  • Configuring the Character Information Dialog
  • Alternate kanjinfo.dat Files
  • Finding Kanji
  • Working with kanjinfo.dat
  • Radical Lookup
  • Bushu Lookup
  • Bushu/Stroke Lookup
  • SKIP Lookup
  • Hadamitzky/Span Lookup
  • Four Corners Lookup
  • Reading Lookup
  • Index Lookup
  • JIS Character Table and Selecting Characters
  • Color Kanji
  • Count Kanji

  • INDEX: Contents
  • PREV: Basic Editing and Formatting
  • NEXT: Dictionary

  • Character Information

    You can get detailed information about any character by using the Character Information feature. This feature is designed primarily to provide information about kanji, but it can also display information about kana and ASCII characters.

    The character information feature can be accessed in a number of different ways. You can select Kanji/Get Info... from the main menu; you can select Get Info... from the popup menu; select the Get Info button from the toolbar; or you can use the keyboard command Ctrl+I. Whichever method you use, you will get character information for the first character in the selected text, or the character to the right of the cursor if there is no selected text.

    You can also get character information for a character using Shift+right click (Shift+Alt+tap) over the character. (Shift+left click also gets character information everywhere but in a Japanese list-box.) This is faster than using the above methods.

    Finally, many dialog boxes have Get Info buttons that will get character information for the currently selected kanji.


    Tip: Remember that you can get character information for characters in Japanese edit controls and list boxes by using the above methods.

    So much information is contained in the Character Information dialog box that it requires more than one dialog box to display it all. Exactly how the Character Information data is displayed depends on the machine. For Windows, two dialog boxes are used; for HPCs, two dialog boxes are also used (different than Windows); and for PPCs, three dialog boxes are used. The examples here are taken from Windows, but the basic configuration is similar for Windows CE.

    So much information is contained in the Character Information dialog box that it requires more than one dialog box to display it all. Exactly how the Character Information data is displayed depends on the machine. For Windows, two dialog boxes are used; for HPCs, two dialog boxes are also used (different than Windows); and for PPCs, three dialog boxes are used. The examples here are taken from Windows, but the basic configuration is similar for Windows CE.

    These dialog boxes contain the following information:

    Large KanjiThis is a large image of the character. If you have installed only the default 16x16 font the image quality will be poor, but if you install any of the higher resolution fonts, the image quality can be very good. (For Windows CE PPC machines, clicking on the image of the kanji in the upper left corner of the dialog box will open a dialog box containing a bigger view of the kanji.) Double clicking the large kanji will insert the kanji into the text.
    TypeIndicates the basic character type.
    JIS CodeThe JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) code for the character, followed by the EUC (Extended UNIX Code) value, and finally the ASCII characters that the JIS code would be displayed as.
    Shift-JISShift-JIS code for the character.
    UnicodeUNICODE code for the character.
    StrokesNumber of strokes in the character.
    BushuThe character's bushu (radical) number and character as used in Nelson's "New Japanese-English Character Dictionary." If classical bushu is different than that used by Nelson, the classical bushu number will be shown in parentheses after the Nelson bushu (above). In such cases, the classical bushu character will also be shown to the right of the Nelson bushu (above).
    Grade School Grade in which Japanese children learn the character (just for fun).
    NelsonThis entry contains two values. The first entry (if present) is the character index in "The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary", edited by Andrew Nelson. The second entry (if present), is the character index in "The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary", edited by John Haig.*
    Halpern This entry contains two values. The first entry is the character index number in "The New Japanese-English Character Dictionary", edited by Jack Halpern. The second entry is the SKIP code for the character, from the same dictionary. System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns (SKIP) is a scheme for the classification and rapid retrieval of kanji characters on the basis of geometrical patterns. Jack Halpern developed this system.**
    SpanThis entry contains two values. The first entry (if present) is the character index in "Japanese Character Dictionary", edited by Mark Spahn and Wolfgang Hadamitzky. The second entry (if present) is the character index number in "Kanji & Kana" by Mark Spahn and Wolfgang Hadamitzky.
    Four CornersThis is the character index in the Four Corners system of kanji organization invented by Wang Chen. (There may be two of these indexes due to ambiguities in classifying Japanese characters).
    MorohashiThis entry contains two values. Both of these values are the index of the character in the Daikanwajiten by Morohashi. The first entry is the first entry (if present) is the character index in the full Daikanwajiten. The second entry (if present) is the character index in the forms of volume and index within the volume.
    Pin Yin***Pinyin of each kanji, i.e., the (Mandarin or Beijing) Chinese romanization. (Depending on the version of kanjinfo.dat installed, you may not have access to PinYin).
    KoreanThe romanized Korean reading for the kanji. The readings are in the (Republic of Korea) Ministry of Education style of romanization. (Depending on the version of kanjinfo.dat installed, you may not have access to Korean).
    meanings(In list box) The common meanings associated with this kanji.
    on-yomi(In list box) Chinese readings for the character.
    kun-yomi(In list box) Japanese readings for the character.
    nanori(In list box) Name readings (Depending on the version of kanjinfo.dat installed, you may not have access to nanori).
    FrequencyFrequency of use ranking compiled by Jack Halpern based of statistics published by The National Language Research Institute (Tokyo). The frequency is a number from 1 to 2,135 that expresses the relative frequency of occurrence of a character in modern Japanese.
    HenshallThe character index in the "A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters" by Kenneth G. Henshall.
    GakkenThe character index in the Gakken Kanji Dictionary ("A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage"). Some of the numbers relate to the list at the back of the book, jouyou kanji not contained in the dictionary, and various historical tables at the end.
    HeisigThe character index in the "Remembering The Kanji" by James.
    O'Neill This is a double entry. The first entry is the character index in the "Japanese Names", by P.G. O'Neill. The second entry is the character index from "Essential Kanji" by P.G. O'Neill.
    DeRooIndex in "2001 Kanji" published by Father Joseph De Roo.
    Kanji LearnersIndex into "Kanji Learners Dictionary" published by Kodansha in 1999 by Jack Halpern.
    Read / WriteIndex into “A Guide to Reading and Writing Japanese" edited by Florence Sakade.
    Tuttle CardsTuttle kanji card number, compiled by Alexander Kask.
    Kanji WayIndex into "The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power" by Dale Crowley.
    Kanji in ContextIndex into "Kanji in Context" by Nishiguchi and Kono.
    Busy PeopleIndex into "Japanese For Busy People" vols I-III, published by the AJLT. This index contains the volume and chapter numbers.
    Compact GuideIndex into Kodansha’s Compact Kanji Guide.
    Cross-ReffThese are cross-reference section includes various character references that don't fit in a standard category. The major cross-references take three forms. First is a reference to a specific character. These are indicates by JIS0208 or JIS0212, indicating references into one of the JIS character sets. (JWPce can display JIS0208 characters, but not JIS0212 characters.) Second is a cross-reference to a SKIP code. These are generally common character mis-classifications. In this case JWPce indicates the type of skip error. Third is a cross-reference to a dictionary entry. All of these entries are to either the "The New Japanese-English Character Dictionary" edited by Jack Halpern, or the "The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary", edited by John Haig.

    In the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings fields some characters have special meanings. The "-" character is used to indicate that the kanji is used as a suffix or prefix. The characters "(" and ")" are used to indicate okurigana (part of the word written in kana).

    The meanings, on-yomi, kun-yomi, and nanori are all displayed in a single list box. Normally, each section of the list box has a title (in the highlight color). Additionally, the readings are displayed one per line. If you wish to view more of the list at one time you can disable the titles (Show Titles check box on the Misc page of the Options dialog box, Utilities/Options..., or Ctrl+O). If you elect not to show the titles you can still identify most of the information, because the meanings are in English, the on-yomi are in katakana, but both the kun-yomi and nanori are in hiragana. Using the Compressed check box on the Misc page of the Options dialog box, you can also change the display format for the readings. In Compressed format commas separate individual readings and thus many more readings can be shown (see below).


    Left image is fully expanded and the right is fully compressed.

    For kana characters (katakana or hiragana), the list control will display the possible romaji inputs that JWPce accepts for the character. Unlike the lists for kanji, this list cannot be compressed, but will only contain a few items for each character.

    This dialog box also contains buttons that allow you to get information about the first character on the clipboard, or insert selected data from the list box into your file.

    Data presented in the Character Information dialog is displayed in such a way that the data can be selected and copied onto the clipboard. This can be useful if you want to include say the Halpern index number for a kanji in some text. (This is not supported by Windows CE.)


    * At the time of writing, this is the most recent version of the Nelson dictionary, and contains the most comprehensive coverage of the JIS character set.

    ** SKIP is protected by copyright, copyleft and patent laws. The commercial utilization of SKIP in any form is strictly forbidden without the written permission of Jack Halpern, the copyright holder ( jhalpern@cc.win.or.jp).

    *** Pin Yin codes may not display correctly on non American/Western European Windows machines. They will display correctly on all Windows CE devices.


    Configuring the Character Information Dialog

    The order of the information in the Character Information dialog can be changed using the Configure Character Information dialog (Utilities/Setup Char Info…).

    Each entry corresponds to a line in the Character Information dialog. You can choose to display any information on any line, except for the bushu information, which is fixed. Although it is true that you can put any information element on any line, some combinations will not work very well. Due to the layout of the Character Information dialog box, some entries will not fit in some locations.

    The configuration dialog will not allow you to select an actual entry more than once, but you can select blank for any entry you don’t wish to see.

    The Character Information dialog is dynamic. If you increase the size of the dialog, additional information will be displayed. The entries will be added in the order indicated in the configuration dialog.


    Alternate kanjinfo.dat Files

    The data file containing the information about kanji characters is called kanjinfo.dat. There are currently three different versions of this file. The information displayed by the Character Information dialog depends on the version of the data file you have installed. The smallest version of the kanjinfo.dat was designed primarily for Windows CE and contains primarily the base set of information and the normal (on and kun) readings. The medium version of the file adds all of the dictionary references and kanji lookup information. The largest version adds pinyin, Korean, and nanori readings.

    You can change the version of kanjinfo.dat by simply replacing the file. JWPce will automatically adjust to the version of kanjinfo.dat you have installed. Note that several of the kanji lookup systems use this file, thus changing the kanjinfo.dat file will change which lookup systems can be used.


    Technical Tip: The kanjinfo.dat files are generated by processing Jim Breen's KANJIDIC file with the kinfo.exe utility. If you are competent with computer programming, you can download the JWPce utilities (jwpceutl.zip from my web site), and generate a kanjinfo.dat file with just the information you want.


    Finding Kanji

    The number of different ways of organizing kanji probably exceeds the actual number of kanji. JWPce contains eight different kanji lookup systems (nine if you count the JIS Table). These systems allow you to find kanji in much the way that a kanji dictionary would be used to find kanji.

    All of the kanji lookup systems have a number of features in common. Before examining each of the kanji lookup systems, some of the common features will be examined.

    The above figure shows the common controls that are found on most kanji lookup dialogs. The actual layout of the controls may vary from dialog to dialog, but the basic controls and function will be the same.

    MatchesThe matches window displays the results of the last search (see below).
    MessageDisplays status message and the number of matched kanji in the last search. (There is no text label for this control. In the above example this shows the value of 239.)
    SearchExecute the actual search. Many of the dialog boxes have an Auto Search option that searches each time you make a change to the dialog box (Enter).
    ClearClears all selected radicals, stroke count controls, and matches.
    Get InfoCharacter information for the selected Matches kanji (Ctrl+I).
    Insert->FileInserts the selected Matches kanji into the file (or edit control).
    Copy->ClipCopies the selected Matches kanji to the clipboard (Ctrl+C). Holding the shift key down while selecting this item will copy all kanji from the Matches window to the clipboard.
    DoneCloses the dialog box (Esc).
    Auto SearchThis checkbox enables the auto-search feature. When this is selected, any change you make the dialog box will cause JWPce to search for matching kanji. Generally this is a good feature, but can make the response of the system too slow on slow machines.


    Matches (Results)

    The matches window displays the results of the last search. The list can hold up to 1500 kanji, so if a search yields more than 1500 matching kanji, the list will be truncated.

    Once a search has been performed, the currently selected kanji can be changed by clicking on another kanji or by using the keyboard commands*:

    KeyPlain actionaction with Ctrl
    Left, F3, >Move left one kanjimove left five kanji
    Right, F2, <Move right one kanjimove right five kanji
    HomeMove to beginning of list
    EndMove to end of list
    SpaceInsert kanji into file

    If you double click on a kanji, it will be inserted into the file (or edit control) you are using. Shift+right click or Shift+left click or right click will display Character Information for the selected kanji.

    When the Maches window is selected, the keyboard command Ctrl+C will copy the selected kanji to the clipboard. The keyboard command Ctrl+Shift+C will copy all the kanji in the Matches window to the clipboard.


    * Keyboard command will only function if the Matches window is selected. A flashing bar (cursor) appearing below the currently selected kanji indicates this.


    Number Selection Controls

    There are several special number selection controls used in the various kanji lookup dialog boxes. These controls consist of an edit box that can be used to enter a number directly, and two arrows that can be used to cycle through all possible values.

    Whenever the control is blank, the kanji lookup system will accept any value. If the control contains a zero value, this is usually taken to match any value, and any other value in the control this will match only a specific value. The exception to this are the five corner boxes used in the Four Corners lookup system. Since zero is a valid value in these controls, they must be blank to mach any value.

    As an example of using the number controls, if we consider the case of a control to select the number of strokes in the kanji. If the control was blank, or had the value of zero, kanji would be included in the results. If the control had the value of 7, then only kanji with seven strokes would be included in the results. Total stroke count controls will automatically skip values that would be unreasonable. For example, if you have an 11 stroke radical selected, the total stroke count control will automatically skip the values 1-10, because these values will automatically result in no matches.

    Related Topics


    Working with kanjinfo.dat

    All of the kanji lookup systems depend on the kanjinfo.dat file. Depending on the version of this file you have chosen to install you may not have access to all of the lookup systems and/or you may not have access to all of the features of the various lookup systems.

    With the exception of the Radical Lookup, all of the kanji lookups make a great number of accesses to the kanjinfo.dat file. The speed of these searches can be greatly increased by caching the kanjinfo.dat file in memory, at the expense of using up 500 kB of memory. The kanjinfo.dat file can be moved into memory by using the Cache Kanji Information checkbox on the Advanced page of the Options dialog box.

    For people who have lots of memory, slow machines, and/or use the lookup features a lot, caching kanjinfo.dat is advised.

    Related Topics


    Radical Lookup

    In the Radical Lookup system, you can find kanji by selecting as many radicals as possible from the kanji. This dialog allows you to lookup kanji by stroke count, and by more than one radical contained within the kanji.

    The Radical Lookup dialog box can be started by selecting the Kanji/Radical Lookup... menu command, selecting Radical Lookup... from the popup menu, selecting the Radical Lookup button from the toolbar, the F5 key, or the Ctrl+L key.


    Tip: Remember you can use the Radical Lookup feature from any Japanese edit control, as well as from the main edit window.

    In order to perform a kanji search using the Radical Lookup dialog you need to perform a number of steps; these are detailed in the following sections.


    Selecting Radicals

    You can select radicals you want to search for. If you can identify more than one radical within the kanji, you can greatly reduce the number of matches you get. (It is also possible to search for kanji based only on the stroke count, so you do not have to select any radicals.)

    The Radicals window contains 248 radical buttons that can be selected. There are not actually 248 different radicals, because the Radicals window contains common variations of some of the radicals. If you select a radical that has variations, all variations will be selected at the same time. The radicals in the window are arranged in stroke count order. Selected radicals are shown with a yellow background. The white squares with red numbers indicate the stroke count of the radicals.

    You can select radicals in the radical window simply by clicking on them. The selection-state of the radical (and its variations) will change. Double clicking on a radical will select that radical and execute the search.

    When the Radicals window is activated, the currently current radical will have a flashing border (or square for Windows CE). When the window is activated you can use the following keyboard commands:

    Keyplain actionaction with Ctrl
    Leftmove left one radicalmove left five radicals
    Rightmove right one radicalmove right five radicals
    Upmove up one linemove up five lines
    Downmove down one linemove down five lines
    Page Uppage up*page up*
    Page Downpage down*page down*
    Homebeginning of this linefirst radical
    Endend of this linelast radical
    Spaceselect the current radical
    digits/numbersmove to radical with stroke count

    When you enter a number, the cursor will automatically be moved to the first radical with that number of strokes. Because radicals have 1-17 strokes, there is some ambiguity as to where to move. The last two digits you entered determine the radical selected. For example; if you press 1, the cursor will jump to the first radical with 1 stroke. If you then press 5, the cursor will jump the first radical with 15 strokes. If you press 5 again, the cursor will jump to the first radical with 5 strokes (since there is no radical with 55 strokes).


    *Windows CE displays are not large enough to display the entire radicals window, so this window has a scroll bar and paging are used.


    Selecting All the Radicals Associated with a Kanji

    A special feature can be used to select all of the radicals associated with a particular kanji. This can be useful if you are having trouble locating a kanji. If you can find a similar kanji, you can select all the radicals in the similar kanji and use that as a foundation for searching for the kanji you want. Another case where extracting the radicals from a kanji can be useful is if you could not find a kanji using the Radical Lookup and you want to know what the radicals actually are (for next time).

    To select all the radicals associated with a kanji, copy the kanji to the clipboard, then paste the kanji into the Radicals window (select the radicals window and press Ctrl+V or Shift+Insert). JWPce will respond by clearing all selected radicals and selecting all radicals associated with the kanji you just pasted into the window.


    Selecting Strokes

    You can restrict the kanji search to a specific number or range of stroke counts. This can be useful if you cannot limit the search to a small enough number of kanji with just the radicals. You do not have to limit the stroke count to search.

    There is a small collection of controls to the right of the dialog box that determine the stroke count limits for the search. These are:

    StrokesThe edit control combined with two arrows indicates the basic stroke count. This is combined with the following buttons to determine the actual stroke count used.
    AnyThis button indicates that any stroke count will be accepted.
    +/- 1Accept kanji with up to 1 more or less stroke.
    +/- 2Accept kanji with up to 2 more or less strokes.

    Related Topics


    Bushu Lookup

    The Bushu Lookup dialog searches for kanji based on a radical (bushu is the Japanese word for radical) and the number of strokes in the kanji. Unlike the Radical Lookup, this system does not allow you to select more than one radical, rather the kanji are listed only under a single key kanji.

    The Bushu Lookup dialog box can be started by selecting the Kanji/Bushu Lookup... menu command, selecting Bushu Lookup... from the popup menu, selecting the Bushu Lookup button from the toolbar, or the Ctrl+Shift+L key.


    Tip: Remember you can use the Bushu Lookup feature from any Japanese edit control, as well as from the main edit window.

    In order to perform a kanji search using the Bushu Lookup dialog you need to perform a number of steps; these are detailed in the following sections.


    Selecting the Radical

    The Radicals window contains 248 radical buttons** that can be selected. There are not actually 248 different radicals, because the Radicals window contains common variations of the radicals. If you select a radical that has variations, all variations will be selected at the same time. The radicals in the window are arranged in stroke count order. Selected radicals are shown with a yellow background. The white squares with red numbers indicate the stroke count of the radicals.

    You can select a radical in the Radicals window simply by clicking on it. The selection-state of the radical (and its variations) will change. Double clicking on a radical will select that radical and execute the search.

    When the Radicals window is activated, the currently current radical will have a flashing border (or square for Windows CE). When the window is activated you can use the following keyboard commands:

    KeyPlain actionAction with Ctrl
    Leftmove left one radicalMove left five radicals
    Rightmove right one radicalMove right five radicals
    Upmove up one lineMove up five lines
    Downmove down one lineMove down five lines
    Page Uppage up*Page up*
    Page Downpage down*Page down*
    Homebeginning of this linefirst radical
    Endend of this linelast radical
    Spaceselect the current radical
    digits/numbersmove to radical with stroke count

    When you enter a number, the cursor will automatically be moved to the first radical with that number of strokes. Because radicals have 1-17 strokes, there is some ambiguity as to where to move. The last two digits you entered determine the radical selected. For example; if you press 1, the cursor will jump to the first radical with 1 stroke. If you then press 5, the cursor will jump the first radical with 15 strokes. If you press 5 again, the cursor will jump to the first radical with 5 strokes (since there is no radical with 55 strokes).


    *Windows CE displays are not large enough to display the entire radicals window, so this window has a scroll bar and paging are used.

    **Classically there are 214 radicals. Two of the classical radicals are not in the list, and are automatically mapped to similar radicals. Radical 22 is not present and is mapped to radical 23, which is very similar. Radical 35 is also not present and is automatically mapped to radical 34. Further, the second four-stroke radical does not correspond to a Classical or Nelson radical.


    Selecting Strokes

    Generally, just choosing a radical does not restrict the number of possible kanji sufficiently to find the kanji you are interested in, you will also have to select the number of strokes in the kanji.


    Tip: If you cannot accurately determine the number of strokes in the kanji, make your best guess then use the up and down arrows on the stroke control so check different stroke counts.


    Bushu Type

    The two push buttons (check boxes on Windows CE) allow you to choose the type of bushu you want to use in the lookup. The Classical bushu is the classical radical under which the character is sorted. In theory, this is related to the meaning of the character in some way. The Nelson bushu is the radical under which the character is sorted in the Nelson dictionary (generally this is located in the upper left of the character).

    Most of the time the Classical and Nelson bushus are the same, but not always. You can search for kanji using either or both sorting system.

    Related Topics


    Bushu/Stroke Lookup

    The Bushu/Stroke Lookup dialog searches for kanji based on a radical (bushu is the Japanese word for radical) and the number of strokes in the kanji. Unlike the Radical Lookup, this system does not allow you to select more than one radical, rather the kanji are listed only under a single key kanji. The only difference between this lookup dialog and the Bushu Lookup is the way the controls work in the dialog. Both lookup systems are identical.

    The Bushu/Stroke Lookup dialog box can be started by selecting the Kanji/Bushu/Stroke Lookup... menu command, selecting Bushu/Stroke Lookup... from the popup menu, selecting the Bushu/Stroke Lookup button from the toolbar, or the Ctrl+Shift+B key.


    Tip: Remember you can use the Bushu/Stroke Lookup feature from any Japanese edit control, as well as from the main edit window.

    In order to perform a kanji search using the Bushu/Stroke Lookup dialog you need to perform a number of steps; these are detailed in the following sections.


    Selecting the Radical

    The radical you want to search for is specified by the number of strokes in the radical and a radical identifier. There are two basic ways to select the radical you want to search for.

    First, if the Radical Strokes box is blank (or set to zero), the Radicals window will show all possible radicals. When you select a radical from the Radicals window, the display will change to show radicals with the same number of strokes.

    Second, if the Radical Strokes box contains a number, all radicals with that number of strokes will be shown in the Radicals window. You can then pick the desired radical from the Radicals window.

    The Radicals window can contain up to 248 radicals* that can be selected. There are not actually 248 different radicals, but the Radicals window contains common variations of some of the radicals. If you select a radical that has variations, all variations will be selected at the same time. The radicals in the window are arranged in the order of stroke count. Selected radicals are shown with a yellow background color.

    If you don't want to see the variations, you can deselect the Show Variants check box. This will adjust the Radicals window so that only the actual radicals are shown and not the variations.

    You can select a radical in the Radicals window simply by clicking on it. The selection-state of the radical (and all variations) will automatically change. Double clicking on a radical will select that radical and execute the search.

    When the Radicals window is activated, the currently current radical will contain a flashing border (or square for Windows CE). When the window is activated you can use the following keyboard commands:

    Keyplain actionaction with Ctrl
    Leftmove left one radicalmove left five radicals
    Rightmove right one radicalmove right five radicals
    HomeFirst radical
    EndLast radical
    Spaceselect the current radical

    *Classically there are 214 radicals. Two of the classical radicals are not in the list, and are automatically mapped to similar radicals. Radical 22 is not present and is mapped to radical 23, which is very similar. Radical 35 is also not present and is automatically mapped to radical 34. Further, the second four-stroke radical does not correspond to a Classical or Nelson radical.


    Selecting Strokes

    Generally, just choosing a radical does not restrict the number of possible kanji sufficiently to find the kanji you are interested in, you will also have to select the number of strokes in the kanji.


    Tip: If you cannot accurately determine the number of strokes in the kanji, make your best guess then use the up and down arrows on the stroke control so check different stroke counts.


    Bushu Type

    The two push buttons (check boxes on Windows CE) allow you to choose the type of bushu you want to use in the lookup. The Classical bushu is the classical radical under which the character is sorted. In theory, this is related to the meaning of the character in some way. The Nelson bushu is the radical under which the character is sorted in the Nelson dictionary (generally this is located in the upper left of the character).

    Most of the time the Classical and Nelson bushus are the same, but not always. You can search for kanji using either or both sorting system.

    Related Topics


    SKIP Lookup

    The SKIP Lookup dialog searches for kanji based on the character's SKIP code. System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns (SKIP)* is a scheme for the classification and rapid retrieval of kanji characters on the basis of geometrical patterns. Jack Halpern developed this system.

    The SKIP Lookup dialog box can be started by selecting the Kanji/SKIP Lookup... menu command, selecting SKIP Lookup... from the popup menu, selecting the SKIP Lookup button from the toolbar, or the Ctrl+Shift+S key.


    Tip: Remember you can use the SKIP Lookup feature from any Japanese edit control, as well as from the main edit window.

    In order to perform a kanji search using the SKIP Lookup dialog you need to perform a number of steps; these are detailed in the following sections.


    *SKIP is protected by copyright, copyleft and patent laws. The commercial utilization of SKIP in any form is strictly forbidden without the written permission of Jack Halpern, the copyright holder (jhalpern@cc.win.or.jp).


    Selecting SKIP Codes

    A SKIP code consists of three numbers. The first number indicates the type of division used in the character. The other two numbers indicate the number of strokes in each part of the character. For a full description of the SKIP system please see the "New Japanese-English Character Dictionary," edited by Jack Halpern, National Textbook Company, ISBN 0-780844-284347.

    The type of division can be selected by entering a number in the Type control or selecting one of the graphic indicators of the Types on the right side of the dialog box.

    The number of strokes for both parts of the character can be entered in the appropriate controls. The right Strokes control corresponds to the black part of the character and the left one corresponds to the gray part of the character.


    Other Options

    Every kanji has a specific "correct" SKIP code, but there are certain types of mistakes that people make in picking SKIP codes. By enabling the Include Mis-codes checkbox JWPce will include many common mis-codings* when searching for characters. This has the advantage that the kanji you want is easier to find, but also has the disadvantage that the number of results of any search will be larger than otherwise.


    * Mis-codes are taken form KANJIDIC developed by Jim Breen (
    copyright information).

    Related Topics


    Hadamitzky/Span Lookup

    The Hadamitzky/Span Lookup dialog searches for kanji based on a radical and the number of strokes in the kanji. This system is very much like the Bushu Lookup and the Bushu/Stroke Lookup, except the set of radicals is different.

    The Hadamitzky/Span Lookup dialog box can be started by selecting the Kanji/Hadamitzky/Span Lookup... menu command, selecting Hadamitzky/Span Lookup... from the popup menu, selecting the Hadamitzky/Span Lookup button from the toolbar, or the Ctrl+H key.


    Tip: Remember you can use the Hadamitzky/Span Lookup feature from any Japanese edit control, as well as from the main edit window.

    In order to perform a kanji search using the Hadamitzky/Span Lookup dialog you need to perform a number of steps; these are detailed in the following sections.


    Selecting the Radical

    The radical you want to search for is specified by the number of strokes in the radical and a radical identifier. There are two basic ways to select the radical you want to search for.

    First, if the Radical Strokes box is blank (or set to zero), the Radicals window will show all possible radicals. When you select a radical from the Radicals window, the display will change to show radicals with the same number of strokes.

    Second, if the Radical Strokes box contains a number, all radicals with that number of strokes will be shown in the Radicals window. You can then pick the desired radical from the Radicals window.

    The Radicals window can contain up to 115 radicals with variations and 79 radicals without variations. If you select a radical that has variations, all variations will be selected at the same time. The radicals in the window are arranged in the order of stroke count. Selected radicals are shown with a yellow background color.

    If you don't want to see the variations, you can deselect the Show Variants check box. This will adjust the Radicals window so that only the actual radicals are shown and not the variations.

    You can select a radical in the Radicals window simply by clicking on it. The selection-state of the radical (and all variations) will automatically change. Double clicking on a radical will select that radical and execute the search.

    When the Radicals window is activated, the currently current radical will contain a flashing border (or square for Windows CE). When the window is activated you can use the following keyboard commands:

    KeyPlain actionaction with Ctrl
    LeftMove left one radicalmove left five radicals
    RightMove right one radicalmove right five radicals
    HomeFirst radical
    EndLast radical
    SpaceSelect the current radical


    Selecting Strokes

    Generally, just choosing a radical does not restrict the number of possible kanji sufficiently to find the kanji you are interested in, you will also have to select the number of strokes in the kanji.


    Tip: If you cannot accurately determine the number of strokes in the kanji, make your best guess then use the up and down arrows on the stroke control so check different stroke counts.

    Related Topics


    Four Corners Lookup

    The Four Corners Lookup dialog searches for kanji based on the shape of the kanji at each of the four corners. This system has been used for many years in China and Japan for classifying kanji.

    The Four Corners Lookup dialog box can be started by selecting the Kanji/ Four Corners Lookup... menu command, selecting Four Corners Lookup... from the popup menu, selecting the Four Corners Lookup button from the toolbar, or the Ctrl+4 key.


    Tip: Remember you can use the Four Corners Lookup feature from any Japanese edit control, as well as from the main edit window.

    In order to perform a kanji search using the Four Corners Lookup dialog you need to perform a number of steps; these are detailed in the following sections.


    Selecting the Shapes

    There are two ways to select the shape for each corner. The first is to simply enter the corresponding number in the control for each corner. The second is to select the shape from the graphic selection control to the right of the dialog box.

    When selecting the shapes using the graphic select control the shape for the last corner selected is modified (by default the first corner, upper-left, is selected). Further, when you use the graphic select control the corner is automatically advanced. For example if you use the graphics select control to and select 2, 3, 4, and 5; the upper-left corner will get 2, the upper-right corner will get 3, the lower-left corner will get 4, and the lower-right corner will get 5. If you want to select a corner out of order, first click on the corner you want to modify, then select the value from the graphic selection control.


    Using the Four Corners Lookup

    The following are a number of rules for using the Four Corners Lookup:

    1. Stroke shapes are divided into ten classes:
    2. The four corners are ordered in a Z-shape (example =7129)

      12
      34
    3. A shape is only used once. If it fills several corners, it is counted as zero in subsequent corners (example =2690).
    4. When the upper or lower half of a character consists of only one (single or composite) shape, it is, regardless of its position, counted as a left corner. The right corner is counted as zero (example =1017).
    5. When there is no additional element to the four sides of the characters , , (and sometimes ), whatever is inside these characters is taken for the lower two corners (example =7760).
    6. The analysis is based on the block-style handwritten kaisho shape of characters (example =3027, not 1027).
    7. Shape rules:
      1. Shape 0: When the horizontal line below a DOT shape (number 3) is connected to another stroke at its right-hand end it is not counted as a LID (number 0) but as a DOT (example =3040).
      2. Shape 6: Characters where one of the strokes of the square extends beyond it, are not considered to be square (number 6) shapes, but corners (number 7) (example =7710).
      3. Shape 7: Only the cornered end of corner shapes (number 7) is counted as 7 (=7124).
      4. Shape 8: Strokes that cross other strokes are not counted as shape number 8 (example =8043).
      5. Shape 9: Shapes resembling shape 9, but featuring two strokes in the middle or two strokes on one side are not considered as 9 shapes (example =4433, and =3290).
    8. Some points to note when choosing corners.
      1. When a corner is occupied by more than one independent or parallel strokes, the one that extend furthest to the left or right is taken as the corner, regardless of how high or low it is (example =2124).
      2. If there is another shape above (or, at the bottom of the character, below) the leftmost or rightmost stroke of a character, that shape is given preference and is taken as the corner (example =3090).
      3. When two composite stroke shapes are interwoven and each could be regarded as a corner, the shape that is higher is taken as the upper corner, and the lower stroke as lower corner.
      4. When a stroke that slopes downwards to the left or right is supported by another stroke, the latter is taken as the corner (example =3424).
      5. A left slanting stroke on the upper left is taken for the left corner only; for the right corner one takes a stroke more to the right (example =2772).
    9. The fifth corner: In order to differentiate between the several characters with the same code, an optional "fifth corner" is sometimes used. This is, loosely, a shape above the fourth corner, which has not been used in any other shape.

    Related Topics


    Reading Lookup

    The Reading Lookup dialog searches for kanji based on the kanji readings and stroke count. This type of lookup is useful when you know the reading of the kanji you want to lookup but want more information about the kanji.

    The Reading Lookup dialog box can be started by selecting the Kanji/Reading Lookup... menu command, selecting Reading Lookup... from the popup menu, selecting the Reading Lookup button from the toolbar, or the Ctrl+Shift+R key.


    Tip: Remember you can use the Reading Lookup feature from any Japanese edit control, as well as from the main edit window.

    In order to perform a kanji search using the Reading Lookup dialog you need to perform a number of steps; these are detailed in the following sections.


    Selecting the Reading Type

    Using this lookup system you can find kanji using a number of different readings of the kanji. The type of reading you are sing to search is set by the Type control, and the actual reading is entered in the Reading control. The possible types are:

    Depending on the version of the kanjinfo.dat file installed you may not be able to access all of these different readings.


    Readings and Options

    You enter the reading that you want to search for in the Readings control. The type of reading you enter must match the Type you selected (above). There are some special rules for generating readings, as well as some options.

    When matching kun-yomi (kun-yomi or on-yomi or kun-yomi), the Flexible kun-yomi match checkbox determines how the match is carried out. If this checkbox is not selected, kun-yomi readings must be exact. This means that to match the kun-yomi of the kanji , you would have to search for or . If this checkbox is selected, you can match this kanji with , , or .

    When matching a meaning, the Allow partial word matches determines if the word has to be fully matched or partially matched. For example, if this checkbox is selected the string "text" would match "text" and "textbook". If this checkbox were not selected, the string "text" would match "text", but would NOT match "textbook".

    In order to enter pinyin correctly, it is necessary to enter to the tonal marks. This can be done by entering accented characters on you keyboard, or by entering accent numbers following vowels. The following table shows the numeric mapping of the tonal marks for the letter a, the other vowels are similar.


    Selecting Strokes

    Sometimes, just choosing a reading does not restrict the number of possible kanji sufficiently to find the kanji you are interested in, you will also have to select the number of strokes in the kanji.


    Tip: If you cannot accurately determine the number of strokes in the kanji, make your best guess then use the up and down arrows on the stroke control so check different stroke counts.

    Related Topics


    Index Lookup

    The Index Lookup dialog searches for kanji based on the index into dictionaries, and other reference material. This is a highly specialized lookup system that can be used to find kanji from a reference number. Most reference numbers can be searched for in the Index Lookup. However, if you want to find a kanji via JIS code, UNICODE number, shift-JIS number, or EUC number, use the JIS Table.

    The Index Lookup dialog box can be started by selecting the Kanji/Index Lookup... menu command, selecting Index Lookup... from the popup menu, selecting the Index Lookup button from the toolbar, or the Ctrl+Shift+I key.


    Tip: Remember you can use the Index Lookup feature from any Japanese edit control, as well as from the main edit window.

    In order to perform a kanji search using the Index Lookup dialog you need to perform a number of steps; these are detailed in the following sections.


    Selecting Type and Index

    All indexes consist of a single numeric entry, with the exception of Morohashi Daikanwajiten (volume index) require only a single numeric input value. This particular index requires both a kanji index and a volume number.

    The general operation of the lookup system is to select the Type of Index that you want to search from the dropdown list, then enter the Index and press Enter or select the Search button.

    The supported indexes are:

    1. Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary, Andrew Nelson
    2. The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary, John Haig
    3. The New Japanese-English Character Dictionary, Jack Halpern
    4. Grade Level
    5. Morohashi Daikanwajiten (full index)
    6. Morohashi Daikanwajiten (volume index)
    7. Kanji Learners Dictionary, Jack Halpern
    8. Kanji & Kana, Spahn and Hadamitzky
    9. A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters, Kenneth G. Henshall
    10. A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage, Gakken
    11. Remembering The Kanji, James Heisig
    12. Japanese Names, P. G. O'Neill
    13. Essential Kanji, P. G. O’Neill
    14. 2001 Kanji, Father Joseph De Roo
    15. Frequency-of-use ranking, Jack Halpern

    All of the indexes are dictionaries or kanji reference books except the Grade Level and Frequency-of-use ranking, Jack Halpern. The Grade Level indicates the grade at which Japanese school children learn this kanji.

    The Frequency-of-use ranking, Jack Halpern, indicates the frequency of use ranking compiled by Jack Halpern based of statistics published by The National Language Research Institute (Tokyo). The frequency is a number from 1 to 2,135 that expresses the relative frequency of occurrence of a character in modern Japanese.

    Related Topics


    JIS Character Table and Selecting Characters


    WARNING! The JIS table feature contains some technical information about Japanese encoding systems. If you don't care about this stuff, you may still find the JIS table useful for finding unusual characters, so you may want to simply skim this section or skip it.

    JWPce allows you to input any character directly using any of the major encoding systems. This feature is combined with the ability to display all of the JIS character set (except the ASCII page) in one dialog box.

    The JIS table feature can be accessed via the Kanji/JIS Table... menu command, JIS Table from the popup menu, selecting JIS Table from the command bar, or Ctrl+T keyboard command. The JIS table displays all of the JIS characters present in the current screen font.* In the JIS character set each character is assigned a 16 bit number. The characters are organized into pages, with each page containing 94 characters.** The high-order byte of the character code is referred to as the page of the character. The pages are as follows:

    page (hex)contents
    00ASCII (English characters)
    21-22Japanese symbols and punctuation
    23JASCII (Fixed with English characters)
    24hiragana
    25katakana
    26Greek alphabet
    27Russian alphabet
    28Box drawing characters
    30-4FLevel I kanji
    50-73Level II kanji

    There are also pages reserved for future expansion and for Level III kanji. JWPce automatically skips blank pages in the display.


    Tip: By default the JIS Table will start by showing you the hiragana page. This can be used to select kana that you cannot remember the romaji for. The page below the hiragana page is the katakana page.

    Navigating the Character Table

    The Character Table dialog box appears as follows:

    The currently selected kanji is indicated by the highlighted box. The edit boxes on the left side of the dialog display the codes of the currently selected kanji in all of the major encoding systems (all numbers are in hexadecimal). As you change the selected kanji, the values in these boxes will change to reflect the encoding values for the selected kanji. If you enter a valid encoding value into one of the boxes, the selected kanji, the other encoding values, and the displayed kanji page will change. If you enter an invalid code, the display will not change, but rather waits for more input.

    You can move around the JIS code display using the mouse and scroll bar, or you can use the following keys:

    keyplain actionaction with Ctrl
    Leftmove left one charactermove left five characters
    Rightmove right one charactermove right five characters
    Upmove up one linemove up five lines
    Downmove down one linemove down five lines
    Page Uppage uppage up
    Page Downpage downpage down
    Homebeginning of linefirst JIS character
    Endend of linelast JIS character
    Spaceinsert character into file
    Icharacter information
    Ccopy character to clipboard

    Character Information for the selected character can be obtained by selecting the Get Info button, or selecting the character with Shift+left click, right click, or Shift+right click.

    The selected character can be inserted into the current file (or edit control) by pressing Space, selecting Insert to File, or by double clicking the character. Alternatively, the character can be copied to the clipboard by pressing the Copy to Clip button or pressing the C key.

    Related Topics


    * If your display font is a bitmapped font then JWPce will attempt to use the k16x16.f00 font for the JIS table. If, however, you are using a TrueType font, JWPce will create a 16 pixel high version of your TrueType font for use in the JIS table.

    ** This is because there are 94 printable characters in the ASCII character set. JIS encoding was designed to trick most programs into thinking they were working with ASCII text, not Japanese text, so the 94 possible pages each contain 94 possible characters.


    Color Kanji

    The Color Kanji feature causes JWPce to change the color of some of the kanji displayed. This color change is in effect everywhere the affected kanji are displayed (kanji bar, Character Information, etc.). The color kanji feature was originally intended to be an aide to learning Japanese. The student would keep a list of kanji that he/she knows. Known kanji would be displayed in black, and unknown kanji would be displayed in blue (the default Color Kanji color), clearly indicating which kanji the student thinks he/she knows and which ones he/she does not know.

    Others have found many other uses for the Color Kanji feature, including indicating kanji that are common between two or more lists, indicating which kanji students are responsible for, determining which kanji may be good to learn, etc.

    Working with Color Kanji

    To use the Color Kanji feature one must make a kanji list. A number of different menu commands are used to work with color kanji. All of these commands can be accessed from the Color Kanji submenu of the Kanji menu.

    Creating and Clearing the Kanji List

    A kanji list may be created by choosing the Make Kanji List menu command, or selecting Color Kanji from the toolbar. All kanji in the current file will be extracted and made into a list. From this point forward, any kanji not on that list will be displayed in blue (assuming the default setup).*

    Selecting the Append to Kanji List command will append all the kanji in the current file to the color kanji list (JWPce will automatically take care of duplicate).

    You can clear the kanji list by selecting the Clear Kanji List menu command, or by executing the Make Kanji List menu command on a file that contains no kanji.

    Editing the Kanji List

    You can add or remove small groups of kanji by using the Add/Remove Kanji… command. This will open a small dialog box. You can enter kanji that you want to add or remove from the kanji list. Selecting the Add button will add the kanji to the list. Selecting the Remove button will remove the kanji from the list. Selecting the Cancel button will exit the dialog.


    Tip: If you select text before opening the Add or Remove Color Kanji dialog, JWPce will automatically place that text in the Kanji edit box.

    Viewing the kanji list

    Selecting the View Kanji List command will cause JWPce to open a new file called “::Color Kanji List”. This file will contain all the kanji in the current color kanji list. Note that this file cannot be saved without giving it a new name, since the given file name is an invalid name.

    Color-Kanji Options

    The Misc page of the Options dialog (Utilities/Options... or Ctrl+O) contains a number of options that relate to the Color Kanji feature:

    Related Topics


    * To see the color change, simply edit another file that contains both kanji on the list and off the list.


    Count Kanji

    The Count Kanji feature is a utility to determine information about the kanji contained in one or more files. The feature can be used to determine the frequency of kanji use in the file(s), and/or to build a kanji based vocabulary list for the file(s).

    The primary intended use of this features was to help in choosing new kanji for a student to learn. A student could load file(s) that he/she is working on (or vocabulary lists), and determine the most frequently used kanji in these files. Such kanji would be a good candidates for study, since it is much easier to learn a kanji that is used in more than one word.

    The secondary use for this function was to be able to quickly get kanji information for all unknown kanji used within a file(s). This forms a somewhat crude vocabulary utility.

    Both of the above features become much more powerful when combined with the Color Kanji feature. Using the Color Kanji's kanji list, you can remove known kanji from the lists generated by the Count Kanji feature.

    The Count Kanji dialog can be started by using the Kanji/Count Kanji... menu command or selecting the Count Kanji button from the toolbar. Once the dialog box is open there will be a number of check boxes that control how the kanji are counted:

    Source Options: Kanji List Options: Information Displayed in the List Options:

    The Count Kanji dialog also contains the following buttons:

    After counting your documents, JWPce will display a summary of the count and the results. The summary contains various statistics about the characters counted.

    This information includes the following:

    TotalTotal number of characters counted.
    KanjiNumber of kanji counted. This is further broken down into the number of kanji on or off your color kanji list.
    Dif KanjiNumber of different kanji counted. This indicates the number of different kanji contained in the counted documents. This is further broken down into the number of kanji on or off your color kanji list.
    KanaNumber of kana contained in the document. This is further broken down into the number of hiragana and the number of katakana. JWPce counts the long vowel mark () as a katakana character.
    ASCIIThe number of ascii (western) characters used in the documents. This is broken down into the number of ascii and the number of jascii characters).
    OtherThis is a count of all remaining characters that did not fit in any other category. This will include Japanese punctuation, fixed-width Greek, fixed-with Cyrillic, etc.

    Tip: For students who are required to write a composition containing a specific number of characters, the count summary can be used to check your work.

    The results of the search are displayed in the Kanji Japanese list box. If all possible information is requested (frequency, on-yomi, kun-yomi, and meaning), a lot of data can be contained in the list box. A potential display line is:

    The first symbol is the kanji in question (), followed by the number of times it appears in the file(s), followed by the on-yomi (separated by the character), followed by the kun-yomi (separated by the character), and finally the meanings. If any part of this entry is selected, the Get Info button (above) will get Character Information for the kanji.


    Tip: Often the Kanji (results) list in the Count Kanji dialog can be difficult to read. In these cases, selecting the entire list and pasting it into another file allows JWPce to use more space in displaying the information, and thus can make reading the list much easier.

    Related Topics


    Next Chapter: Dictionary