This article seems to imply that part of the reason is that Japanese has 3 sets of symbols for the sounds in their language, which makes typing difficult.<p>Why does Japanese use 3 sets of symbols for their spoken language? (Hiragana for native words, Katakana for foreign words, Kanji due to China's proximity?) Why not reduce to one set of symbols?
An interesting insight into a culture that normally has a reputation for being far ahead of the curve in adopting new technologies.<p>Also kind of makes me think about how there must be a lot of software, and a lot of code out there written in other languages that has no real visibility in the west at all. Interesting thought.