File talk:KB Japanese (OADG 109).svg

Can someone add details about what the buttons adjacent to the space bar are called it appears that theres one to switch from hiragana to katakana Is there an alternative method for production of the opcode? — Preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.84.83.193 (talk) 01:26, 30 January 2020 (UTC) Text from http://xahlee.info/kbd/Japan_keyboard_layouts.html Apple keyboard Japan. Note the 英数 (alphanumeric) key, and かな (kana) key. The circle arrow key 🗘, that's 変換 (reads “henkan”, meaning “conversion”). On the left with a slash is 無変換 (reads “muhenkan”, meaning “no conversion”.) Also, note the kana key. Nicola Layout (aka Thumb-Shift Layout)

In Nicola Layout (aka Thumb-Shift) layout:

   Each key corresponds to a kana character. The kana are arranged efficiently.
   Two special shift keys: left thumb-shift key and right thumb-shift key. Each is a independent modifier key.
   Only 3 rows are used for kana, each row has 5 keys per hand. So, left hand has 15 keys, right hand has 15 keys, total 30. Multiply by 2 thumb-shift keys, you have 90 possibilities, enough for all kana letters.

japanese nicola j keyboard layout NICOLA J keyboard layout. image source

   When no thumb-shift is pressed, the lower labeled character is typed.
   When opposite hand thumb-shift is pressed, the lower labeled character with Dakuten ゛ is typed.
   When a thumb-shift of the same hand is pressed, the upper labeled character is typed.

Example:

   と (no shift) ⇒ と
   と + Other Hand Shift ⇒ ど
   と + Same Hand Shift ⇒ お

Note: this means, some character need to be typed using the same hand. This can cause hand strain and can increase risk of Repetitive Strain Injury.

Nicola became quite popular in the 1980s, and still has great number of users.

Yasunori Kanda and others at Fujitsu developed Thumb-Shift layout in the late 1970s. Japan FKB8579 661 thumb shift keyboard 45474 s335x187 Thumb-Shift, 1980 M-type Layout — Preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.84.83.193 (talk) 01:33, 30 January 2020 (UTC)