The following list is intended to help in inputting by a word processing program the special characters and symbols that are found in Japanese texts. Under the heading “Input” are listed generic terms by which the groups of related characters listed under the heading “Results” are called up using common text editor software. For example, when inputting characters from a Japanese-language word processing program, if you type the characters かっこ (the generic term for parentheses) and then hit the RETURN key, a list of various parenthesis characters will appear, from which you can make a selection. For special characters that cannot be called up with an editor, the UTF-8 decimal code is given instead of a generic term.

This eliminates the need to remember how to key in characters that are used infrequently or to take the time to try to look them up somewhere else. In this sense this list is a supplement to the Kana romanization tables.

This presentation of characters is done in Unicode UTF-8. Whether all the characters appear correctly on your computer screen will depend upon your browser and computer system.