VIC-1001, keyboard with kana (Japanese characters) markings and screenshot.
Images: DenialWIKI (user Ral-clan). Click to enlarge.
VIC-1001, keyboard with kana (Japanese characters) markings and screenshot.
Images: DenialWIKI (user Ral-clan). Click to enlarge.
The Commodore VIC-1001 was the Japanese market version of the popular VIC-20, and the first VIC computer to be introduced (October 1980, end of production January 1985). While else identical to the international VIC-20, it featured a set of Katakana characters in character-set 2. Whereas this second set was used in other CBM machines for combined lower-case and uper-case characters, here set 2 featured upper-case roman characters, like set 1, and replaced the usual range of upper-case characters and block-graphics by specific Katakana forms (PETSCII codes 97–122, 124, 127, 132, 161–172, 177, 180–223, 227–234, 236, 239, 244–252, and 254). Moreover, where there was usually the British pound sign (PETSCII 92), there was now the Yen currency symbol. As a result, there was only the normal PET-like upper-case/graphics set and a roman-upper-case/kana set – with the inclusion of the most important frame/border characters – and no lower-case roman characters. (Compare the character-chart from the manual, also linked at the bottom of this page, and the comparative character dump of VIC-1001 and VIC-20 ROMs.)
This page is meant to assist in identifying the Japanese characters (kana) by providing a complete Unicode reference based on a dump of the character ROM.
PETSCII Katakana Characters
VIC-1001 character ROM 2: (screen) codes 41–7F; Unicode range U+30A0 – U+30FF ("Katakana") and U+5E74, U+6708, U+65E5 (date: year, month, day).
Codes for halfwidth Katakana letters, Unicode range U+FF00 – U+FFEF ("Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms"), are provided in parentheses.
(Wherever there is both a small and a big variant for a glyph, the big form was chosen as the Unicode reference.)
2-41: U+30C1 (U+FF81) "TI" チ (ﾁ) ......X. ..XXXX.. ....X... .XXXXXX. ....X... ....X... ...X.... ........ 2-42: U+30C4 (U+FF82) "TU" ツ (ﾂ) ........ .X.X..X. .X.X..X. ......X. ......X. .....X.. ...XX... ........ 2-43: U+30C6 (U+FF83) "TE" テ (ﾃ) ..XXXX.. ........ .XXXXXX. ....X... ....X... ....X... ...X.... ........ 2-44: U+30C8 (U+FF84) "TO" ト (ﾄ) ...X.... ...X.... ...X.... ...XX... ...X.X.. ...X.... ...X.... ........ 2-45: U+30CA (U+FF85) "NA" ナ (ﾅ) ....X... ....X... .XXXXXX. ....X... ....X... ...X.... ..X..... ........ 2-46: U+30CB (U+FF86) "NI" ニ (ﾆ) ........ ..XXXX.. ........ ........ ........ .XXXXXX. ........ ........ 2-47: U+30CC (U+FF87) "NU" ヌ (ﾇ) ..XXXXX. ......X. ...X.X.. ....X... ...X.X.. ..X..... ........ ........ 2-48: U+30CD (U+FF88) "NE" ネ (ﾈ) ....X... ..XXXXX. .....X.. ....X... ...XXX.. ..X.X.X. ....X... ........ 2-49: U+30CE (U+FF89) "NO" ノ (ﾉ) .....X.. .....X.. .....X.. ....X... ...X.... ..X..... ........ ........ 2-4A: U+30CF (U+FF8A) "HA" ハ (ﾊ) ....X... ..X..X.. ..X...X. ..X...X. ..X...X. .X....X. ........ ........ 2-4B: U+30D2 (U+FF8B) "HI" ヒ (ﾋ) .X...... .X...... .XXXXX.. .X...... .X...... ..XXXXX. ........ ........ 2-4C: U+30D5 (U+FF8C) "HU" フ (ﾌ) ..XXXXX. ......X. ......X. .....X.. ....X... ...X.... ........ ........ 2-4D: U+30D8 (U+FF8D) "HE" ヘ (ﾍ) ........ ...X.... ..X.X... .X...X.. ......X. ......X. ........ ........ 2-4E: U+30DB (U+FF8E) "HO" ホ (ﾎ) ....X... .XXXXXX. ....X... ..X.X.X. ..X.X.X. .X..X.X. ....X... ........ 2-4F: U+30DE (U+FF8F) "MA" マ (ﾏ) .XXXXXX. ......X. ..X..X.. ...XX... ....X... .....X.. ........ ........ 2-50: U+30DF (U+FF90) "MI" ミ (ﾐ) ...XX... .....X.. ...X..X. ....X... ..X..X.. ...X.... ....XX.. ........ 2-51: U+30E0 (U+FF91) "MU" ム (ﾑ) ....X... ...X.... ..X..X.. .X...X.. .XXXXX.. ......X. ........ ........ 2-52: U+30E1 (U+FF92) "ME" メ (ﾒ) ......X. ......X. ...X.X.. ....X... ...X.X.. ..X..... ........ ........ 2-53: U+30E2 (U+FF93) "MO" モ (ﾓ) ..XXXX.. ...X.... .XXXXXX. ...X.... ...X.... ....XXX. ........ ........ 2-54: U+30E4 (U+FF94) "YA" ヤ (ﾔ) ...X.... .XXXXXX. ...X..X. ...X.X.. ...X.... ...X.... ...X.... ........ 2-55: U+30E6 (U+FF95) "YU" ユ (ﾕ) ........ ..XXXX.. .....X.. .....X.. .....X.. .XXXXXX. ........ ........ 2-56: U+30E8 (U+FF96) "YO" ヨ (ﾖ) ........ .XXXXXX. ......X. ..XXXXX. ......X. .XXXXXX. ........ ........ 2-57: U+30E9 (U+FF97) "RA" ラ (ﾗ) ..XXXX.. ........ .XXXXXX. ......X. .....X.. ....X... ........ ........ 2-58: U+30EA (U+FF98) "RI" リ (ﾘ) ..X...X. ..X...X. ..X...X. ..X...X. ..X...X. .....X.. ....X... ........ 2-59: U+30EB (U+FF99) "RU" ル (ﾙ) ..X.X... ..X.X... ..X.X... ..X.X.X. ..X.X.X. .X..XX.. ........ ........ 2-5A: U+30EC (U+FF9A) "RE" レ (ﾚ) ..X..... ..X..... ..X..... ..X...X. ..X..X.. ..XXX... ........ ........ 2-5C: U+30EF (U+FF9C) "WA" ワ (ﾜ) .XXXXXX. .X....X. .X....X. .....X.. ....X... ...X.... ........ ........ 2-5F: U+30F2 (U+FF66) "WO" ヲ (ｦ) .XXXXXX. ......X. .XXXXXX. ......X. .....X.. ....X... ........ ........ 2-61: U+30A2 (U+FF67) "A" ア (ｧ) .XXXXXX. ......X. ...X.X.. ...XX... ...X.... ...X.... ..X..... ........ 2-62: U+30A4 (U+FF68) "I" イ (ｨ) ......X. ....XX.. ...XX... ..X.X... .X..X... ....X... ....X... ........ 2-63: U+30A6 (U+FF69) "U" ウ (ｩ) ...X.... .XXXXXX. .X....X. ......X. .....X.. ....X... ........ ........ 2-64: U+30A8 (U+FF6A) "E" エ (ｪ) ........ ..XXXXX. ....X... ....X... ....X... ..XXXXX. ........ ........ 2-65: U+30AA (U+FF6B) "O" オ (ｫ) ....X... .XXXXXX. ....X... ...XX... ..X.X... .X..X... ....X... ........ 2-66: U+30AB (U+FF76) "KA" カ (ｶ) ...X.... .XXXXXX. ...X..X. ...X..X. ..X...X. .X...XX. ........ ........ 2-67: U+30AD (U+FF77) "KI" キ (ｷ) ....X... ..XXXXX. ....X... ..XXXXX. ....X... ....X... ....X... ........ 2-68: U+30AF (U+FF78) "KU" ク (ｸ) ...XXXX. ..X...X. .X....X. .....X.. ....X... ...X.... ..X..... ........ 2-69: U+30B1 (U+FF79) "KE" ケ (ｹ) ..X..... ..XXXXX. .X..X... ....X... ....X... ...X.... ..X..... ........ 2-6A: U+309B, U+3099 (U+FF9E) "VOICED SOUND MARK" ゛ .X.X.... .X.X.... .X.X.... ........ ........ ........ ........ ........ 2-6C: U+30B9 (U+FF7D) "SU" ス (ｽ) .XXXXXX. .....X.. ....X... ...XX... ..X..X.. .X....X. ........ ........ 2-6F: U+309C, U+309A (U+FF9F) "SEMI-VOICED SOUND MARK" ゜ .XXX.... .X.X.... .XXX.... ........ ........ ........ ........ ........ 2-74: U+5E74 "YEAR, PERSON'S AGE" 年 .X...... .XXXXXX. ....X... ..XXXXX. ..X.X... .XXXXXX. ....X... ........ 2-75: U+6708 "MONTH" 月 ..XXXXX. ..X...X. ..XXXXX. ..X...X. ..XXXXX. ..X...X. ..X...X. ........ 2-76: U+65E5 "DAY, DAYTIME" 日 ..XXXXX. ..X...X. ..X...X. ..XXXXX. ..X...X. ..X...X. ..XXXXX. ........ 2-77: U+30BF (U+FF80) "TA" タ (ﾀ) ...XXXX. ..X...X. .X.X..X. ....XX.. ....X... ...X.... ..X..... ........ 2-78: U+30ED (U+FF9B) "RO" ロ (ﾛ) ........ .XXXXXX. .X....X. .X....X. .X....X. .XXXXXX. ........ ........ 2-79: U+30F3 (U+FF9D) "N" ン (ﾝ) .XX..... ........ ......X. ......X. .....X.. .XXXX... ........ ........ 2-7A: U+30B3 (U+FF7A) "KO" コ (ｺ) ........ .XXXXXX. ......X. ......X. ......X. .XXXXXX. ........ ........ 2-7B: U+30B5 (U+FF7B) "SA" サ (ｻ) ..X..X.. .XXXXXX. ..X..X.. ..X..X.. .....X.. ....X... ........ ........ 2-7C: U+30B7 (U+FF7C) "SI" シ (ｼ) .XX..... ........ .XX...X. ......X. .....X.. .XXXX... ........ ........ 2-7E: U+30BB (U+FF7E) "SE" セ (ｾ) ..X..... .XXXXXX. ..X...X. ..X..X.. ..X..... ...XXXX. ........ ........ 2-7F: U+30BD (U+FF7F) "SO" ソ (ｿ) .X....X. ..X...X. ......X. .....X.. ....X... ...X.... ........ ........
VIC-1001 User's Manual, PETSCII charts and kana keyboard layout (click images to enlarge):
(From VIC-1001 User's Manual; Commodore Japan Limited 1981, © 1980; Part No. 1001029. pp. 20-23, 28-29)
References: