Searching for English Office within Japan

[Guest]

I am an American residing in Japan. I recently purchased an "Overseas Model" Sony Vaio K-series computer-- in other words, a model that's equivalent if not identical to those sold in English-speaking countries. It came with Windows XP Professional, English version. It did not, however, come with any version of Microsoft Office, which makes my new machine a glorified email-checker. I'm desperate to install some version of Office. I can read Japanese, but I'd prefer to keep my computer entirely in English if possible. Can anyone tell me how to get ahold of English Office short of ordering it from an American website and paying a hefty fee for the overseas shipping? Also, should I be purchasing Office 2003 for this XP computer, or is Office XP a better match?

Thanks so much!

 

[Kevin]

Are there no English versions of Microsoft Office for sale in Japan? I find
that hard to believe. Everything else is. Check out the software specialty
stores and also the retail computer vendors shops. You'll find a copy of
Office in English. If you want the latest of everything, go for Office XP.

I am an American residing in Japan. I recently purchased an "Overseas

Model" Sony Vaio K-series computer-- in other words, a model that's
equivalent if not identical to those sold in English-speaking countries. It
came with Windows XP Professional, English version. It did not, however,
come with any version of Microsoft Office, which makes my new machine a
glorified email-checker. I'm desperate to install some version of Office. I
can read Japanese, but I'd prefer to keep my computer entirely in English if
possible. Can anyone tell me how to get ahold of English Office short of
ordering it from an American website and paying a hefty fee for the overseas
shipping? Also, should I be purchasing Office 2003 for this XP computer, or
is Office XP a better match?

 

[Guest]

I can read Japanese, but I'd prefer to keep my computer entirely in English if
possible. Can anyone tell me how to get ahold of English Office [...]
Also, should I be purchasing Office 2003 for this XP computer, or
is Office XP a better match?

Are there no English versions of Microsoft Office for sale in Japan? I find
that hard to believe. Everything else is.

What's "everything else"? Anyway I saw English-language Office XP at one Laox store in central Tokyo a few years ago, but the price was outrageous.

If you want the latest of everything, go for Office XP.

I haven't experimented with Office 2003. Since you told the original poster that Office XP has the latest of everything, I guess I don't need to experiment with regressing.

Meanwhile, here's a solution that might be affordable for the original poster. Microsoft sells a CD for \1,050 that converts part of Office XP to English, and another CD for \1,050 that converts part of Office 2000 to English. I haven't looked to see if there's one for Office 2003. An example procedure would be: In Windows XP, make sure that all Japanese language support options are enabled, then install Japanese Office XP (communicating with the installer in Japanese), then install the English Language Pack for Office XP (communicating with the installer in Japanese), then open up the Office Tools - Office Language settings (in Japanese) and tell it (in Japanese) that you want to use English. After that, 95% of the operations of Office XP will be in English.