STARS: Word Processing for the Japanese Language [Scanning Our Past]

Toshiba started the automatic kanato-kanji conversion project in 1971. Kenichi Mori's research group solved the homonym problem using usage frequency information and interactive learning. In text editing, a user selects one of the homonyms displayed in the order of the usage frequency information. This information was based on the usage frequency in newspapers. A user's selection is automatically learned and used to update the usage frequency information: using the algorithm of last used homonym is the first out next time. Use of the last-in-first-out algorithm for selection of the homonym was crucial to the success of the conversion technology. In September 1978, Toshiba exhibited the JW-10, the first Japanese language word processor. During the 1990s, Japanese word processors became obsolete because of the growing popularity of PCs and word-processing software that incorporate kana-to-kanji conversion using automatic word segmentation. Programs like Microsoft Word and Justsystems' Ichitaro (1985) made this conversion a basic function of PCs. By 1999, major Japanese companies had exited the Japanese word-processor business.