Links collections
The sites in this Links section helped me find my favorite Japan-related sites. They can probably help you find yours too.
I've also listed some under other categories where appropriate.
Sachiko Mishima is an energetic and talented Japanese teacher at the University of Cincinnati
This is her home page. Click all the photos!
JGram is a great new Japanese grammar/usage site
Keiko Schneider's Bookmarks - Huge collection of Japanese culture and language teaching links
Melita Rowley's collection of Japanese language links
ECIS - Nagoya University - Listening Exercises
Total Quality Japanese sells books and other aids, but have lots of free articles and useful links.
gate39 has a great collection of links
Resources for East Asian Language and Thought has some language related links and a "Digital Dictionary of Buddhism"
Language
A nice introduction to the writing system
"About" sites can be annoying, but About - Japanese Language has some fun stuff, especially for kids
Total Quality Japanese bills itself as "One stop shopping on the net for all your Japanese-language needs" They sell books and other aids, but have lots of free articles and useful links.
Word Processors
This software lets you create, read and edit Japanese text on English Windows systems.
Glenn Rosenthal's JWPce is a superb tool, and it's free!
Hongbo Ni's NJStar Software has inexpensive Japanese, Chinese and Korean word processors and other utilities. You can download 30-day demos of their programs to try out before you buy.
Online Dictionaries
Romanized English-Japanese, Japanese-English dictionary based on Jim Breen's EDICT dictionary.
Jim Breen's WWWJDIC Japanese-English Dictionary Server has some useful tools, including English/Japanese and Japanese/English dictionaries you can access from your DoCoMo or JVodaphone ketai (cel phone).
Jim Breen's home page has several very useful online dictionaries; his work is the foundation for many of the online tools you'll find on the net. If you can use Japanese on your non-Japanese computer, you probably owe Jim a "Thank you".
FREELANG has all sorts of free language tools. Alas, no Japanese, it seems, but there's plenty of other interesting and entertaining tools.
Online kanji lookup site from Boston Trading company.
The jeKai Japanese-English dictionary project isn't what most people would consider a normal dictionary, but it's another useful online tool.
Japanese Computing
If you're interested in Japanese computing, using Japanese on your computer or just about anything that can be described with "Japanese" and "computer" in the same sentence, you owe yourself a visit to Jim Breen's home page
Ken Lunde is the author of CJKV Information Processing, the authoritative reference work in the field.
Web Page Translators
Need help reading Japanese web pages? These services provide it.
On WorldLingo you can type in a url and get the whole page (or site) translated to/from any of several languages, including English and Japanese.
Rikai and PopJisyo (pop-up dictionary) both allow you to type in a url of a Japanese page and get pop-up translations of the kanji. Rikai also has an English to Japanese translator
Schools with Japanese language programs
University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, IN
seems to be a more direct route
Culture
gate39 is a Japanese language web development firm that sponsors this collection of cultural information and links. The links page is worth your time ... promise!
The quirky japan homepage focuses somewhat on the offbeat, but also mentions lots of places that are delightful but a bit off the beaten tourist path. Among other things, they mention Himeji Castle, Tsukiji Market and the Ukiyoe Museum in Matsumoto; we've been to all of them and would go back in a minute.
Resources for East Asian Language and Thought has some language related links and a "Digital Dictionary of Buddhism"