japana - HTTP proxy converting Japanese characters into ASCII

japana [ --addr addr ] [ --auth ] [ --configfile configfile ] [ --kakasioptions options ] [ --port port ] [ --proxy proxy ] [ --userfile userfile ] [ --version ]

japana [ -a addr ] [ -A ] [ -c configfile ] [ -o options ] [ -p port ] [ -P proxy ] [ -u userfile ] [ -V ]

japana is a small and simple proxy written in Perl. The proxy converts Japanese characters (Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji etc.) into ASCII (Romaji) on the fly. The conversion is done using the KAKASI library.

Just start japana. This will by default create a proxy running on http://localhost:8080 (it will fail if something else is already running on this port). Then point your browser to the proxy. Browse some Japanese website (e.g. http://amazon.co.jp) and see all those Japanese characters converted to plain ascii text.

--addr addr | -a addr

This is the IP address that japana will bind to. This address (together with the correct port) must be configured in your browser to make use of the japana proxy. Be careful: Everybody who can reach the japana port on this address can use your proxy. Consider enabling authentication (--auth option). You might also bind to an address only reachable from your local net or use a packet filter to 'guard' japana from the outside. The address '0.0.0.0' will bind japana to all of your network devices. Default is to bind to address '127.0.0.1' as this address can only be accessed from your local computer and is not accessible from the network. Please take care when binding to another address.

--auth | -A

This enables the basic proxy authentication scheme as described in RFC 2617. If enabled, you must enter a valid username and password before you can use the japana proxy. Note that the passwords are not encrypted in any way, so don't use important ones. Default is to use no authentication.

--configfile configfile | -c configfile

The options from the given configuration file will be read. These options can be overridden by other command line arguments. Default is not to read a configuration file.

--kakasioptions options | -o options

These options are passed directly to kakasi and affect the conversion process. See the kakasi documentation for details. Default options are '-ja -ga -ka -Ea -Ka -Ha -Ja -U -s' and should be reasonable.

--port port | -p port

This is the port on which japana listens to your incoming requests. This port (together with the correct address) must be configured in your browser to make use of the japana proxy. Default setting is port 8080.

--proxy proxy | -P proxy

If this variable contains a value, the given proxy is used by japana. This allows you to chain multiple proxies together. Example: If you need a proxy to access the Internet then point your browser to the japana proxy and in turn point japana to your original proxy. Set this to 'none' to use no proxy at all. Default is to use the environment variable ${http_proxy}.

--userfile userfile | -u userfile

This file contains the usernames and passwords to use when authentication is enabled. Default userfile is '/etc/japana.users'.

--version | -V

This prints the current version of japana and exits.

Configuration is also possible via configuration files. Every command line switch is possible in a configuration file. Empty lines and lines starting with # are ignored.

Instead of --port 3128 you would put this line in the configuration file:

 port = 3128

-o '-ja -ga -ka -U -s' will become

 kakasioptions = -ja -ga -ka -U -s

and so on and so forth.

This file contains the usernames and passwords used for authentication. Every line must contain one username and the corresponding password separated by a colon. Empty lines and lines starting with # are ignored.

This example file contains the user 'japana' with the password 'simple':

 # This is just an example.
 # Consider changing your password before using japana.
 japana:simple

 use AppConfig;
 use HTTP::Daemon;
 use LWP::UserAgent;
 use Text::Kakasi;

These modules can be obtained at <http://www.cpan.org> and Text::Kakasi can be found here: <http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~knok/kakasi/>.

If setting up kakasi is too complicated, you might try the old 1.0.x version of japana. It does not use kakasi (and because of that can't convert Kanji).

 use Compress::Zlib;

This module can be obtained at <http://www.cpan.org>.

When this module is installed, gzipped data transfer is available between your browser, japana and web servers.

In the default configuration, japana supports NO ACCESS CONTROL! Everyone with access to the japana port on your system will be able to use the proxy. Please consider the use of password authentication (--auth) or bind japana to a port that is either only available from your local network or protected by a packet filter.

Please report bugs the project website <http://sf.net/projects/japana/> or send a mail to <japana-bugs@cgarbs.de>.

japana was written by Christian Garbs <mitch@cgarbs.de>. Look for updates, support etc. at <http://sf.net/projects/japana/>.

japana is licensed under the GNU GPL.

Thanks go to Tobias Diedrich <ranma@gmx.at> and Benjamin Heuer <benjaminheuer@t-online.de> for patches, ideas, bug-reports and beta testing.

Sorry to those guys from <news:de.soc.kultur.japan> who helped with the translation routine in version 1.0.x: It is not used any more.