The coolest tools for your コンピューター (computer)

Now, this is the really fun part for me.  Internet is where I'm doing almost everything related to Japanese.  So I need to be able to type it and read it.

Google Chrome, and two reasons to use it

Google Input Tools is great for entering Japanese input into Chrome.

rikaikun translates text right on the web page into English.  Hover your mouse pointer over the text and it'll pop up a window giving pronunciations and translations, so you can get through texts you could never otherwise read.

One disadvantage is that popup window can get in the way, and it takes some keystrokes ('a' and 'd' for example) as commands, so you can't type while it's on -- at least, I can't.  So I turn it off when not using it.

What these Extensions
look like in Chrome

I haven't yet tried the souped-up version rikaigan.  Maybe I don't want it to get too good:  if I'm using it a lot, I should stop and read something more on my level.

Helpful hint:  It's annoying to have to click on the icons for rikaikun and Input Tools, so it makes sense to set up shortcuts or hotkeys to enable and disable them.  Here's how:  go to Chrome Extensions, lower right, and click on Keyboard Shortcuts.  I use Ctrl-J for Input Tools and Ctrl-U for rikaikun.

Everywhere else

Part of the toolbar
when you've got
IME working right

I use Microsoft Input Method Editor (IME) a lot, in Word and Notepad.  You're stuck with the activation hotkeys its gives you:  Alt-Shift to turn it on/off, and Alt-` to get it to actually do Japanese script rather than roumaji (!).  Extra hint:  if the characters look scraggly and ugly, switch to Yu Gothic font.  They're beautiful.

This will also work within the browser, so I suppose you don't need Google Input Tools -- but I find the activation of Input Tools easier than IME's, so I keep it around.

I lack experience with other platforms, but you can input Japanese into your Mac, Android, and what have you as well.

Now, search as I might, I can find equivalents to rikaikun only for two platforms:  Opera, and Firefox.  A reason to switch browsers?

Translation

Google Translate is a very useful tool, but it does get confused:  it doesn't like it if you enter roumaji, so you'd better be typing in kana and/or appropriate kanji.  Sometimes it can't handle it at all.  But it's still my first go-to for things I don't understand.  The other is...

jisho.org, an online Japanese dictionary that takes kanji, kana, roumaji, and English, and works great.  It can't handle verbs or adjectives if not in dictionary form, though, so if you don't know those yet, run it through Google Translate first.

How to use Japanese input

You type in roumaji, hit a space, and either a) accept its best guess of what you want, or b) go through a list of options, possibly after hitting space again, and then c) hit enter when you got what you wanted.

Two odd things to be aware of:

• No input tool I have used is willing to accept dzu as づ.  To get it, type du.  Argh
• Most double-long o's are written ou, but some are oo.  The input tool may insist you get the right one before picking the right kanji.  Oh, well