Japanese input method
Some systems may also work via a graphical user interface, or GUI, where the characters are chosen by clicking on buttons or image maps.
For example, the Q, W, E, R, T, Y keys correspond to た, て, い, す, か, ん (ta, te, i, su, ka, and n) respectively when the computer is used for direct hiragana input.
Sometimes, each mode (Roman and Japanese) may even have its own key, in order to prevent ambiguity when the user is typing quickly.
Like a standard Japanese keyboard, it has hiragana characters marked in addition to Latin letters, but the layout is completely different.
The primary system used to input Japanese on earlier generations of mobile phones is based on the numerical keypad.
Each number is associated with a particular sequence of kana, such as ka, ki, ku, ke, ko for '2', and the button is pressed repeatedly to get the correct kana—each key corresponds to a column in the gojūon (5 row × 10 column grid of kana), while the number of presses determines the row.
Other characters are typed by flick gesture: Unlike the 12-key input, repeating a key in Godan is not interpreted as a gesture to cycle through kana with different vowels, but rather it would be interpreted as a repeated romaji letter behaving the same as in the QWERTY layout mode.
[5] Other consumer devices in Japan which allow for text entry via on-screen programming, such as digital video recorders and video game consoles, allow the user to toggle between the numerical keypad and a full keyboard (QWERTY, or ABC order) input system.
The kana to kanji converter offers a list of candidate kanji writings for the input kana, and the user may use the space bar or arrow keys to scroll through the list of candidates until they reach the correct writing.
Alternatively, on some keyboards, pressing the muhenkan (無変換, "no conversion") button switches between katakana and hiragana.
Some IME programs display a brief definition of each word in order to help the user choose the correct kanji.
After a few kana have been entered, the phone automatically offers entire phrases or sentences as possible completion candidates, jumping beyond what has been input.
