EUC-JP

EUC-JP is a character encoding scheme used primarily for representing Japanese text in computing systems. It combines multiple byte encodings, including JIS X 0208 for kanji and kana, JIS X 0201 for half-width katakana, and ASCII for English characters, allowing efficient storage and processing of mixed Japanese and Latin scripts. It was widely adopted in Unix-based systems and early internet applications in Japan before being largely superseded by Unicode.

Also known as: Extended Unix Code Japanese, EUC_JP, eucjp, EUCJP, Japanese EUC

Why learn EUC-JP?

Developers should learn about EUC-JP when working with legacy systems, data migration projects, or historical Japanese text files, as it remains relevant for maintaining compatibility with older software and databases. It is particularly useful in scenarios involving character encoding conversion, text parsing, or localization tasks for Japanese markets, where understanding its structure helps prevent mojibake (garbled text) and ensure accurate data handling.

Learning Resources

• docs: EUC-JP Encoding Specification
• tutorial: Understanding Japanese Character Encodings
• docs: Python Documentation: Codecs Module for EUC-JP
• article: Mojibake and Encoding Issues in Japanese