Here is how to switch between the languages, etc..
The first picture is the key that you can push (I was nice and translated it). If you push it then it will switch between Katakana, Hiragana, and Romanji (which basically means Latin letters or the English alphabit/ or standard keyboard like most of you are using).
The next picture is the actual program or tool that switches between..I blew up the picture to give you an idea. Japanese computers come with it as a standard but if I was using an American computer (like before) then I can download that from the Microsoft site for free (called IME or JAIME=Japanese Input Method Entry or something like that). So, no matter what computer you use then you can type Japanese (of course if you know the language or what to type) but you would just type the syllable and it switches to the approiate symbol, etc.. To use it then you just push which button that you use on the tool bar, etc.. and you can move the tool bar anywhere---My wife and I just keep it there to keep it out of the way if we don't use it.
I hope that makes sense...it can be confusing at first but pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I'm thinking about adding this as an entry in my Journal...it was a good question that I hoped I answered.
