Decoding Japanese Text

The following code was written in response to a post on comp.lang.python to show how to obtain a unicode representation of text stored in the Shift-JIS encoding. The original text has also been Base64 encoded for delivery in an e-mail message:

 1 import base64, sys
 2 from qt import *
 3 
 4 a = \
 5 """SW4gdGhpcyBzYW1wbGUsIGUtbWFpbCB0aXRsZSBhbmQgdGV4dCBhcmUgd3JpdHRlbiBpbiBKYXBh
 6 bmVzZS4gDQpPdXIgbGFuZ3VhZ2UgaGFzIHRocmVlIHR5cGVzIGNhbGxlZCCBZ0thdGFrYW5hgWgs
 7 IIFnSGlyYWdhbmGBaCBhbmQgDQqBZ0thbmppgWguIA0KVGhpcyBlLW1haWwgY29udGFpbnMgYWxs
 8 IHRoZSB0eXBlcy4gDQqDQ4NOg1aDQYLNgmiCd4Jrgm6CYIJjglKBRIJQgk+CyYLEg4GBW4OLi0CU
 9 XILwIA0Kk/qWe4zqkc6JnoKzgrmC6YLngrWCooLFgreC5oFCIA0KgqCCooKkgqaCqIFBg0GDQ4NF
 10 g0eDSSANCoKpgquCrYKvgrGBQYNKg0yDToNQg1IgDQqCs4K1greCuYK7gUGDVINWg1iDWoNcIA0K
 11 gr2Cv4LCgsSCxoFBg16DYINjg2WDZyANCoLIgsmCyoLLgsyBQYNpg2qDa4Nsg20gDQqCzYLQgtOC
 12 1oLZgUGDboNxg3SDd4N6IA0KgtyC3YLegt+C4IFBg32DfoOAg4GDgiANCoLiguSC5oFBg4aDhoOI
 13 IA0KgueC6ILpguqC64FBg4mDioOLg4yDjSANCoLtgvCC8YFBg4+DSYOTIA0KgmCCYYJigmOCZIJl
 14 gmaCZ4JogmmCaoJrgmyCbYJugm+CcIJxgnKCc4J0gnWCdoJ3gniCeSANCoKBgoKCg4KEgoWChoKH
 15 goiCiYKKgouCjIKNgo6Cj4KQgpGCkoKTgpSClYKWgpeCmIKZgpogDQqBQoFBgWmBaoGBgXuBW4GW
 16 gY+BdYF2gUmBlIGQgZOBlYFggYSBg4GbgX6BooGggZmB9CANCpOMi56Tc49hkkqL5pHjgViW2IJS
 17 gXyCUYJUgXyCUiANCoKggqKCqIKikbmV25BWj2iDcoOLglCCVYpLIA0Kg0ODToNWg0GKlI6uie+O
 18 0CANCg=="""
 19 
 20 if __name__ == "__main__":
 21 
 22  app = QApplication(sys.argv)
 23  s = base64.decodestring(a)
 24  qs = QTextCodec.codecForName("Shift-JIS").toUnicode(s)
 25  l = QLabel(qs, None)
 26  l.show()
 27  app.setMainWidget(l)
 28  sys.exit(app.exec_loop())

This script decodes the Base64 string, uses the appropriate codec to convert the contents into a unicode representation, and shows the result in a label.

Note that you will need suitable fonts installed on your system to see the result.