How to Type in Romaji to Generate Japanese Hiragana Characters

Windows 7 / Vista
1. Click the start button and open up Control Panel.
2. Click 'Change keyboards or other input methods' from the 'Clock, Language and Region' menu.
3. Click on the 'Keyboards and Languages' tab and click the 'Change keyboards' button.
4. Click the 'Add' button in the 'General' tab screen.
5. Scroll down the list and find the 'Japanese (Japan)' option. Select Japanese from the 'Keyboard' option. Click 'OK' to save your changes.
6. Open up a word processor application and click on the page. A language bar should appear in the task-bar. It will be displaying your computer's current keyboard language. The default value is 'EN English (United States)'
7. Click the 'EN English' and select 'JP Japanese' from the drop down menu. Your computers keyboard is now set up to type in romaji.
8. Start typing in romaji. The computer will automatically generate the hiragana when a valid romaji is typed.
Mac OS X
9. Click 'System Preferences' from the dock and choose the 'International' icon.
10. Change to the 'Input Menu' tab and scroll down to the 'Kotoeri' option. Turn it on and select the 'Hiragana' option.
11. Click the flag in your status bar and select hiragana from the drop down menu. The flag will be the current system language, the default value is the American flag.
12. Open up a word processor application. Start typing in romaji. The computer will automatically generate the hiragana when a valid romaji is typed.