To display kanji you need a Kanji-ROM. It's an optional Japanese font for MSX computers that contains a font of character set coded in JIS divided into two parts (level 1 and 2). Level 2 provides additional characters.

Notes:

• In addition to the 128kB or 256kB Kanji ROM, there's generally a 16kB ROM called a Kanji driver, but some MSX1 or MSX2 computers with Kanji ROM don't have this small driver ROM. Kanji BASIC is only included in this ROM, if the computer is a MSX2+ or a MSX Turbo R. On MSX2, the only Kanji related BASIC instruction is PUT KANJI. MSX1 computers don't have a BASIC instruction to handle the Kanji characters.

• A standard Japanese cartridge (like the HBI-J1) can be used to add the Kanji ROM, driver and BASIC extensions to any MSX generation that doesn't have these features built-in.

• Many computers or cartridges with Kanji ROM also provide MSX-JE in a specific firmware ROM. See Kanji-ROM page.

• MSX View uses its own font. The cartridge version is a MegaROM with ASCII 8k mapper. The version included in the firmware of the MSX Turbo R FS-A1GT does not contain all the characters of the cartridge version, due to lack of space.

• Very few games need Kanji JIS1, and even fewer need JIS2. A list of software titles known to support or require the optional Kanji ROM can be found on Generation-MSX.nl.

Kanji display with MSX View font

MSX View Rom Detection

You can detect the MSX View ROM cartridge by looking for the string "MSXViewKROM" in slots at address 8010h. If you do not have this ROM, you can download a compatible version made by AtoC here. This is an extended font with some data fixed. To use it, you must write the ROM image "kaname_v.rom" into a 256kB ROM with the ASCII 8k mapper. Of course you can use a MegaFlashROM or a MegaSRAM cartridge with the same mapper. The string used for this extended font is "MSXViewKROM&2nd".

MSX View font is integrated in the MSX Turbo R FS-A1GT except for the 12x12 level 2 font which is missing. To access to MSX View font of a FS-A1GT you have to use the Panasonic mapper in slot 3-3.

FS-A1ST computers do not have the MSX VIEW font built-in, but it can be added by soldering a EEPROM to the mainboard (a W27C010 or W27C020 is probably ok). The mainboard has an empty chip location for this purpose. However, if you add it this way the detection method will be different compared to the FS-A1GT. You will have to search for the string "MSXViewKROM" in slot 3-3 on segment 12 (Panasonic mapper) at ofset 0010h. If you added the extended font the string will in addition also contain "&2nd".

To ensure it is a FS-A1GT, you can for example read the bytes at the following addresses in the Main-ROM.

Font Map

MSX VIEW font cartridge map

Extended MSX VIEW font cartridge map

FS-A1GT MSX VIEW font map

Software that support the MSX View font

• MSX View (MSX Turbo R)
• MultiMente
• DM-System2

Links

• MSX-Kanji revealed (MCCW issue 91, January/February 2000)
• Kana / Japanese input (in Japanese)
• Let's use MSX View font (in Japanese)