Where can I find a Japanese Kanji Translation program?

Question

To be more specific, I'm looking for a program that allows me to actually draw the characters and look them up that way. My current method of translating is too eye-strianingly painful, and I'd like an easier method to being able to translate kanji.

Answer 1

To add to the very kind answer from Mr. GD173, let me introduce to you this useful page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_j%C...

You can find many (not all but almost all) kanji used in Japan now by windows shortcut key [ctrl + F], and you'll be able to see how to write correctly each of them simply clicking "look it up".

e.g.)

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%AD%A6

well, let me add some web sites below.

にほんご入門/Introduction to Japanese Language for Nihongo Learning with Speech

http://sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/sp/lesson/j/...

http://sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/sp/lesson/j/...

uPal:Associative Kanji Learning

http://www.sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/icampus/...

Japanese language learning tools on Web

http://www.sabotenweb.com/bookmarks/lang...

Japanese Language Learning

http://www.jref.com/language/

Japanese Language Resource Center

http://www.kanjistep.com/

http://www.kanjistep.com/en/online/sound...

Japanese Vocablary Guide

http://www.languageguide.org/nihongo/

Japanese Romanization Table

http://www.library.ucla.edu/eastasian/jp...

Japanese Language

http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/articles/Japane...

国際交流基金日本語国際センター

http://www.jpf.go.jp/j/urawa/

日本語の教え方・リソース

http://www.jpf.go.jp/j/urawa/j_rsorcs/j_...

みんなの教材サイト

http://momiji.jpf.go.jp/kyozai/Resources...

Japanese Language Education -Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Ja...

Reading Tutor

http://language.tiu.ac.jp/

読解教材バンク

http://language.tiu.ac.jp/materials/jpn/...

「日常生活に見る日本の文化」読み教材もくじ

http://language.tiu.ac.jp/materials/jpn/...

e-japanese.jp

http://www.e-japanese.jp/

I hope you will be able to master many kanji with helps of these web sites.

Answer 2

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for but if you're using a Windows OS then maybe you can install a IME pad onto your computer.

http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/hands...

http://www.declan-software.com/japanese_...

IME pads are standard on most computers bought in Japan with Japanese Windows operating systems. IME pads come with a function called "tagaki" in which you can use your mouse to write out an actual character.

The IME pad will then show a list of those characters that resemble what you've drawn. You then just need to pick out the one that you want.

You can find out the reading of these characters using the IME pad but you won't get their meanings. But, when you can click on a character so that it appears in either a Word document or a browser window/search box of an online dictionary.

Answer 3

If you are talking about translating online pages, download Rikaichan. It's an app for Firefox that allows you to move your mouse over any Kana or Kanji character and it will show you its meaning.