Hardware has all kinds of questions associated with it. I’ll arrange this in three parts – first, general notes. Second, computers (i.e. the box, the monitor, the keyboard). Third, anything you plug into a computer (peripherals).

The main question may be: can I plug my computer/ whatever into the wall? The answer for folks on 110 volt (US, Canada, et al.) is yes. The answer for folks on 220 (UK, et al.) is no. Although Japan is not the same as your home country, tolerances are such that in 90% of the cases it will work fine, and in the other 10% it won’t hurt anything, it just won’t work.

Second question – will my modem talk to the phone line? I haven’t heard of a case where it does not. Just remember to check if you are using touch tone (the kind that beeps) or pulse (the kind that clicks). If you don’t hear tones when you dial a number on your phone, you’re probably pulse. If you don’t set that right (on your modem configuration screen) your modem won’t be able to dial any numbers.

OK – Computers. Hardware is actually kind of ugly, so bear with me. There are two kinds of hardware here, DOS/V and PC98. Well, OK – three – Apple is here as well. To my knowledge, Apple is the same across the board here and in the States. So you can all skip this section. OK – PC98 and DOS/V - everything about them is the same, except cables and the BIOS (don’t ask). So, if you have a computer and you need to buy cables, make sure they fit. The only other time you need to worry about the difference is if you are buying a new computer. Basically, PC98 does not work with English operating systems. This means that unless you like using Japanese programs, you don’t want it. It appears this option is not overly prevalent in new systems, but be wary.

Barring that difference, everything is exactly as you expect. Your local Best Denki (or whatever) will have all the add-ons you expect to go inside your computer, and many of them even have English manuals. For advanced users, motherboards, cases, cards, and memory all appear to be exactly the same as elsewhere. Which means the only problems you will experience you would have experienced at home. Monitors and Keyboards and Mice are as expected.

Oh – one other difference, just in case. Remember that video here is NTSC. So if you are from a PAL country (the UK, e.g.), and for some odd reason want to watch TV on your computer, the cards from home won’t work here, and vice versa. And if you were thinking about getting HDTV and using it with your computer (doesn’t everyone have 500,000 yen to spare?), don’t. Just don’t.

Finally, we come to peripherals. This includes Scanners, Digital Cameras, MP3 Walkmen, Printers, and anything else you can find which plugs into a computer (I bet the new toilets do...). As we’ve covered, the cables and electricity are not a problem. However, this is where our good fortune ends. Because usually you want the peripheral to talk to your computer, which requires software. And the software, most often, is in Japanese, which will either (a) not display correctly, or (b) not work. The first option is only a problem if you want to read what each item on the menu does, for example. The second will mean the hardware will not work.

You have a couple of options here. If you know what the hardware does, and feel comfortable playing with the buttons until what you want to happen happens, you can buy Japanese hardware. My scanner, for example, is made by OMRON, and has pretty pictures associated with most functions. It does what I need it to do. However, all of the menu items appear as dashes of various lengths.

If you don’t like that option (and I don’t entirely recommend it), you can buy products here which are made by foreign companies (Hewlett Packard, Sony, etc.) and download the driver you need. You might even be able to get the manual in English. This will take more work than you might like, but it does the trick. My digital camera is in this category. I downloaded the software I needed from the Casio website. Of course, you should check you can get the drivers before you buy the product.

Finally, and often most cheaply (assuming it arrives in one piece), you can use e-commerce (or a friend at home) to get what you need. However, remember that things do get broke in the mail, and returning something which doesn’t work will be a serious problem. If you are inclined to go this route, a credit card is required for e-shopping.

Two parts to this - software purchasing (you all pay for all your software, right?), and recommended software.

Not a lot to say about software purchasing that hasn’t been said above. As with drivers, Japanese software is flaky at best on an English system. So you can either buy English language software or use a Japanese system. Theoretically you might be able to use Japanese software on an English system, if you don’t need to know what the menus or whatever say. I don’t really recommend this, but it’s your money – most likely you won’t break anything. So your options are to find a vendor which sells English software (I haven’t looked, but Fukuoka might have such a place), or to buy internationally. Once again, this can be done over the internet, or by someone in the states. One word about buying software over the internet: I know now it is possible to buy software, download it, and go. However, I strongly recommend you get the media (CD or disk) when you buy software. It’s too easy to lose otherwise.

Recommended software is something of a tricky situation. I suggest if you are getting software for work, specifically Word Processing, either get what they use there (all my schools have Microsoft Word), or a program which can save files in the format they use (here again Word 2000 or WordPerfect 2000 usually do the trick). I believe both these products have optional Japanese language support.

If there are any special projects you do which require special software (art, music, et al.) I recommend bringing the software from home. Usually these packages are too expensive to mess around with language or support problems.

And finally, we come to the reason many of us use a computer. The internet. Good for what ails you. Email, information on everything, etc. To cover everything would be impossible, so I’ll try to cover the bases as follows: service providers, email, shopping, and information. Of course, the internet changes even faster than the rest of computers, so don’t hold your breath that this info is up to date.

First and most important is getting online. If you have a computer at school, that’s a great place to start. Be nice, though, or you’ll ruin it for everyone else. Remember budgets are limited and your time online may cost a lot of money. There’s also internet access at the Kencho, but bring lots of phone cards. If you are using this option, be sure to disconnect when you type your letter. Use cut and paste to grab email, type your response to it, then connect and send. This saves a lot of money in the long run.

Of course, preferable to all that is having access from home. Almost any computer can access the internet, so if you aren’t doing a lot, buy an old one (the laptop this is being typed on was bought used for the equivalent of ¥50,000). What you need is a computer, a modem, and a service provider. The service provider gives you a number to dial in to, a username, a password, and an information sheet. All of these are important. First off – major service providers. I nipped this from Ryan Olsen’s pages -http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Field/6511/aet/misc/cij_faq.html

I think that about says it all for larger ISPs. In Saga, we have one other option, which is EduQuake. This is a function of the school system, and as such has a few problems, one of the biggest of which is a firewall which blocks many things. On the information sheet which comes with EduQuake, the proxy address is given as proxy.saga-ed.go.jp port 8080. Plug this into your internet options to get things like shopping to work correctly through EduQuake.

The first, last, and only rule with shopping on the internet is the credit card rule. If you don’t have one, you aren’t going anywhere. I use a debit card through my bank at home which allows me to avoid the monthly bill problem. Of course, if you brought a credit card you’ve probably already taken care of this. Anyway, shopping is easy, effective, fairly cheap, and fun. So – on to the good stuff. I’m just gonna list sites and what they sell.

shop.starwars.com Star Wars toys, posters, clothes, etc.