CJKV Information Processing, 2nd Edition

Input Techniques

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Input by Postal Code

Japanese postal codes ( yūbin bangō) consist of three or seven digits.

*

Some con-

version dictionaries include entries that correspond to these postal codes, and the strings

associated with those entries represent the place or places that correspond to the codes.

Table 5-19 includes some examples of three-digit postal code input.

Input by postal code—three-digitTable 5-19.

Postal code Candidate locations

1



5



999

, , , , ,

, , , and so on

Japanese place names, especially for nonnative speakers of Japanese, can be dicult to

learn and pronounce. Japanese addresses usually contain postal codes, and for those who

use Japanese input methods that support this type of input, much digging in dictionaries

to nd out how to pronounce, and thus easily enter, each kanji can be avoided.

Input by Association

Input by association ( rensō nyūryoku) is an older Japanese input method, and

it is oen referred to as the two-stroke input method ( ni sutorōku

nyūryoku hōshiki). It is unlike input by reading in that there is only one kanji associated

with each pair of keystrokes—no candidate selection is required.

Input by association works by associating two characters, usually kana, to a single kanji.

ese two kana are usually associated with the kanji by reading or meaning. Fo