Hi,
Welcome to Jim's Kanji. I'm Jim, sometimes known as Yaban-Jim. This is to inform you of the various rules, as well to give you some helpful information.
DEDICATION
I am dedicating this work to the memory of the late Sensei John
Yumoto. He was a absolute limitless well of interesting and
useful information. I went to him for help in learning about the
Japanese Sword. I was not advanced enought to gain the most from
his teachings. But that was my fault and not his. He spent much
of his life as a Instructor and Scholar at the US Navy Language
Institute in Monterey, California. During World War II he also
was working for the US Navy on a book of the variations in the
brush writing of the kanji.
The greatest thing that I learned from Sensei Yumoto was not to
make enemies. I now understand that but I am still not very good
at it. Sensei was able to rise above the petty bickering that
hinders many of us.
There where many times as I looked at one of my kanji that I just
knew that Sensei Yumoto would say, "It looks like it is
going to fall over." "What is that suppose to be."
Or "That is very FAT isn't it." Sensei Yumoto never
taugh me specifically about kanji, but I "knew" what he
would say.
RULES
The rules are really not very strict, or difficult! Jim's Kanji
is shareware. That means that I own this software, not you. But I
sharing it
with you. Give copies of it to your friends, co-workers, or
anyone else you care to. But please follow the rules. You must
include the complete set of files without modification, addition
or deletion of any kind. But you may include other seperate and
helpful files, that are labeled as such.You may not sell my
software, or include it in a package for sale without my written
permission. But you may charge a small fee ($10 US or less) for
your costs and services, (copying, cost of floppy disks,
shipping, etc.). The no sale rule does not apply to the sale of
your written works that use my kanji only as a font in a writing.
I have done my best to insure that Jim's Kanji is trouble free.
But I can not accept any responsibility after it leaves my hands.
Therefore the user accepts full responsibility for what happens
to his or others equipment and/or software.
HELPFUL INFORMATION
Basically I tried to make a system for writing good looking kanji
(Japanese characters) that is affordable, and not too difficult
to use. However I feel due to the massive numbers of different
kanji demands some difficulty, especially for non-native users. I
also do not want it to take up very much disk space in it's
usable form. True Type appears to answer most of my demands. As
to disk space usage (about 2.5 meg.) remember that this covers
over 2,500 characters, and a infinite number of sizes, (about 1/4
inch high and up is readable and usable). Also those of you who
use a commercial printing service may give them a copy of these
files, if they are set up to use "True Type Files". In
the future more and more commercial printers should have this
service. However at this time the comercial printers are
resisting this (WHY?). In the somewhat near future I will put
this work out as "Adobe type 1" fonts.
Part of my reason for doing this work is the fact that most of
the current kanji systems are VERY Expensive, (and ugly). Their
prices really do not make them affortable for the average user or
even small groups or business (churches, clubs or newsletters).
And these prices make kanji systems totally out of reach for most
student of the oriental material. Also the prices really do not
give much in the way of output. Frequently they only use one
small size of type face done in dot matrix. And their larger
sizes are just magnifications of their smaller sizes. I suggest
that if you are able to buy a legitimate copy of a reasonably
priced kanji system, buy it. The programmers probably worked very
hard to make their product and they deserve our support. However
if the company wants $500 (or even $200) for 2,000 crude kanji
show them my system are tell them to "Eat kanji and
Die".
These characters should also be usable to those of you who use
Chinese or Korean. But my primary interest is Japanese, and my
knowledge of Chinese or Korean is extremely limited. However I
may be able to assist you more, so please read MORE HELP (below).
I developed this to have a good looking character when printed,
especially in a large size, (for posters etc.). With a 300 DPI
laser printer, output is very good at 36 points (1/2 inch) or
above. With a 600 DPI resolution enhanced printer one could have
readable output at less than 12 points. But most would need a
magnifing glass to read it. With a 9 pin dot matrix printer one
may have to use 72 points (1 inch high) for clear results.
This system is designed to be used in "Windows 3.1" and
above. Using "Windows" allows minimal modification to
your system (assuming that you already use Windows).
"Windows" is also a native environment for True Type.
Any program that allows individual input of True Type characters
should give a WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get")
result. This would include many of the "Windows" word
processors, and draw programs. With some work one can use the
"Paint" program, or "Write" program along
with "Character map" that comes with "Windows
3.1" for a output as good as possible, (at no extra cost).
My system as it now sits contains 13 True Type files. The first
one is Kana.ttf. It first contains 109 katakana, and then 105
hiragana. There are 4 more hiragana in KanjiA.ttf. There are 12
kanji.ttf files. KanjiA.ttf, KanjiB.ttf, to KanjiL.ttf. The kanji
are in the order of Andrew N. Nelson's "The Modern Reader's
Japanese-English Character Dictionary". This is a very
helpful book for those of us who did not have Japanese as a
native language. "Nelson's" uses the radical system,
and the number of strokes for it's order. This is similar to that
used in other character dictionarys. The native Japanese,
Chinese, or Korean users will probably not have considerable
problems with my system. The last 5 spaces for characters in each
True Type file are left empty. This is for the later additions
which will undoubtably happen.
"Windows does not allow the characters numbered 0 - 32, 127
- 129, 141 - 144, nor 157 - 158 to be used. I also found a
problem where some of the programs (including "Write"
do not like to use character #160. So the characters #160 are
also being placed in character position #251. In KanjiD.ttf and
higher I have left position #160 unused.
I have included 109 katakana, 109 hiragana, the 1,850 Toyo Kanji,
28 substitutions recommended by the Japanese Press, 92 kanji
recommended for proper names, and some characters that where
available and maybe useful. This gives over 2,550 characters.
This was a major work, and took over 2,000 hours, which includes
alot of necessary research, and translation (to get the brush
stroke form). As well as finding computer programs that would do
the job.
It also did not help that most of my work was done in Southern
Mexico (Oaxaca). I had a difficult time getting the software and
equipment that I needed. And the only kanji, that I could see was
what I brought myself. Also my cleaning lady was able to
"hid" my working papers faster than I was able to find
them. If I ever go through the hugh stacks of papers that she
made weekly I will undoubtably find alot of strange things as
well as long lost important papers.
Please excuse my lack of knowledge of the artistic form for
kanji. But if you are not willing to put up with that you may
have to wait for an artistic priest to redo this work properly.
And then you will probably pay a "Priestly amount" for
it.
Even I am not satisfied with all of my kanji. As I was working on
KanjiE.ttf there where already many kanji in KanjiA.ttf that I
did not like. But even these look pretty good at a height of 2 or
3 inches. I had viewed each character when finished, with a on
screen character height of 9", but my artistic sense
improved with use. However this is a major work for one person.
And if I waited until I am completely satisfied, this work would
not be released for at least 6 more months. So I plan to be
slowly improving my kanji for years to come. I suggest the users
occasionaly look for new and improved versions of these files. I
also plan to bring these out as "Adobe Type". And
"Unicode" will help a great deal. I might even be able
to program a "Real Window's Program" that is made to
write kanji. Or I might find other shareware that will work. But
if I must spend a great deal for more programs to complete all
this I may have to start charging for my work (causing more
trouble for all).
MORE HELP
In the near future I plan on putting out smaller sets for more
specific projects. I collect Japanese swords, and this is why I
started this whole project. When writing about swords in english
only about 500 kanji are necessary, or helpful. There is no
reason to have 2,500 kanji in their computer for this type of
work. So I will make 2 or 3 "True Type Files" that
contain the essentials for this work. Some artists used
variations of kanji for some of their signatures, and I shall
include some of these. If other writers have similar problems
(for example writing about Japanese paintings, or ceramics),
please contact me about your needs.
I hope to be as helpful to you as possible. But please do not
expect too much. I developed this in my spare time, and at my own
expense. I will not even get college credit for my work. If you
have helpful critisism, please give it. If you have worth while
and special needs, please tell me.
I would especially like to put out a type face that is very close
to the ancient artistic brush work. For this I will need
donations of good brush work of the characters to scan. I will
also need a legal release by the artist, so I may scan their
work. I will try to give full credit to the artist or artistsfor
their work.
For those of you that use the Chinese or Korean languages I would
like to help you in the future with your phonetic, or special
characters. But at this time I do not know what they are, or even
what they are called. Please tell me!
For those of you that would like to use Jim's Kanji on another
type of computer system, please contact me. I might be able to
convert it. Or if you are able to convert it, please contact me,
so I can have a copy for others. And I will be happy to give you
authorization and credit for your work. If those of us who share
a problem pull together, there is nothing that we can not do.
This will then benefit our lives and the lives of those in our as
well as other's communities.
Jim Kurrasch
P.O. Box 8746
Goleta, California
93118 USA
(805) 968-8278
CompuServe 75017,2462
INSTALLATION
I am releasing Jim's Kanji in 3 forms. The first is Kanji1.zip,
this contains all necessary files, and would probably come on one
floppy disk. The second form will probably be downloaded. To have
all of Jim's Kanji you need 3 zipped files kanji1a.zip,
kanji1b.zip, and kanji1c.zip. The third form is for those who are
less computer knowledgeable. It contains all necessary files on 2
floppy disks.
First you must copy the kanji files to where you will use them.
You may use the "Copy files to Windows Directory"
option, SEE BELOW. This will probably be the System sub-directory
of the Windows directory. After this you will have to install the
fonts in "Windows". To install the fonts start
"Windows". Go to the Accessories Group. In this group
start the Control icon. After the Control panel opens, double
click on the Fonts icon. When the Fonts panel is open click on
ADD. You may then have to change directories to the System
sub-directory of the Windows directory, (or change to the floppy
disk that contains the files). After this select the desired
fonts, kana.ttf, kanjiA.ttf - kanjiL.ttf, and the radicals if you
desire the all that is available. By activating the "copy
files to Windows Directory" Button, it will do just that.
And you will not have to manually copy the files from the floppy
drive. At a later time you will be able to remove any that you do
not want by reversing this and removing them instead of the add
part.
After you have installed the fonts, you should then open the
"Write" program. It is normally in the accessories
group, if you have not moved it.
I wrote this part in "Write" because it is available to
all Windows users. Open Kanji.wri and print it. It it will give a
pictorial print out of all available kanji, kana, radicals and
their location in the True Type files. The characters will be at
30 points. Use "legal size paper (11 x 14 inches) and each
of the seperate "True Type" files will be printed out
on one page. And this will be a grand total of 13 legal pages. If
you do not use legal size paper you should remove the page breaks
before printing.
There is a file Kanjittf.wb1 which is in the Quattro Pro for
Windows format. This gives the TTF location number crossed
referenced to Nelson's Number. I have also started to place in
other helpful information. but that project is on the back
burner. When I was in Mexico I tried to hire someone to input
that information, but they where never able to do what I wanted
without me standing over them. At that point it was better to do
it myself.
You will also be able to use "Write" or
"Paint" and the "Character Map" program to
write the Kanji (I wrote Kanji.wri in "Write"). If you
do not have or do not wish to use another writing or paint
program. While using "Write" one has to be extremely
careful with what character set is active (in "Write")
when they are pasted in. But if a mistake is made, just highlight
the error, and change the character set (you will not have to
input the characters again). Still this problem will probably
make you at least want to buy another program.
If you have another program that uses "True Type" such
as "Word for Windows", "WordPerfect" or
"Corel Draw" they will work fine. Just follow the
instructions in their manual to input True Type Symbols.
You may not want to install all of the files. Each file that you
do not install will save about 200 kilobytes of disk space. If
you are using this program for Chinese or Korean there is no need
to install the "kana.ttf" file.
Or you may want to install the files on your floppy drives. 2
high density floppy drives could hold all the kanji files. In
this case just tell "Windows" where they are. And a
"Compressed" drive would help allot.