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[IC] ePbt - Wapuro - THE REVIVAL

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zekth:


Here is the revival of GMK Wapuro with the approval of MacGruber117. I was hoping for a long time for this IC to be revived and finally I tackled it myself.

Wāpuro? Nani?

Between the typewriter era and the age of modern computers, Japan had to come up with a new input system as well as suited hardware for the task. Typing hardware... The 80s came and typing Japanese got incredibly easier thanks to the invention of the Japanese word processor by Sharp. Until then typing Japanese was an exceptionally slow and tedious task. 50 wpm got you a job at the time.

Word Processor -> wādo purosessā -> wāpuro

The whole concept of Wāpuro rōmaji (ワープロローマ字) revolves around using a qwerty keyboard with Roman letters to input Japanese characters. Simply put, the user's keystrokes turn into kana on the screen and a drop down menu with choices narrowing down as you type will give you options to choose from.
Wāpuro inputs are standardized through the JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) system of regulation, same concept as ANSI and ISO.
This keyset is an homage to the line of word processors from Sharp particularly. While they invented the first prototype in 1977, it took a few years for the machines to become reasonably sized and affordable. The logo font as well as visual elements in this IC are directly tied to what could be displayed on a word processor from the 80s, such as the Sharp WD-A330 or the Sony PJ-100 that this keyset is inspired from.

A great read on the topic: https://linguaholic.com/linguablog/japanese-alphabets/

Keyboard Renders




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Manufacturer's choice
I contacted JTK to do triple shots and pad printing but they told me it would be too expensive; so the choice of falling back to ePbt was obvious in a sense. Allowing better customization and better kitting possibilities for a cheaper price.

Few Questions

* In the Japanese legend text kit i put 2 sets of enter keys as the top one is directly inherited from the original keyboard and the bottom one is the katakana version. I have no strong feeling on this choice but i think the hiragana one is more aestheticly pleasing. What's your thoughts?
* I tried to be as tight as the original project with some modern kitting. Sublegends have been updated also (some were missing). Any comment on those?
FAQ

* Is it weeb dolch? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
* Any INTL kit other than UK? Sorry but no
* Artisans collabs? Nothing planned yet
* Deskmats? incoming

Colors



Vendors

Worldwide: Kbdfans
EU: Candykeys
UK: Prototypist
USA: Mechs & Co
Canada: DeskHero
AU: SwitchKeys
South East Asia: Monokei
India: StacksKB
Japan: Yushakobo

Thanks to @marcokbd for the renders, @Kustom3 for huge support; all of the other you know who you are and you know how thankfull i am.

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References
Front Legends
KeyFront LegendESC電源TabタブCapsLockキャップスロックShiftシフトBackspace前削除Enter改行Insert挿入Home頁頭PgUp前頁PgDn次頁Delete削除End頁末Control記号CodeコードAltグラフAltGrフランスパンFn機能Up上方Left左方Down下方Right右方{[文頭}]文末: ;行頭" '行末?/検索

Updates
04.08.21 : IC creation

kure_:
reserved. I Really love this set

kustom3:
Reserved

of_sam:
This is bad ass.

OtherAndrew:
very cool set

if you're undecided on modifier legends, its best to look at what actual japanese keyboards do, and this goes for all of them

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