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 = \
"""SW4gdGhpcyBzYW1wbGUsIGUtbWFpbCB0aXRsZSBhbmQgdGV4dCBhcmUgd3JpdHRlbiBpbiBKYXBh
   5 bmVzZS4gDQpPdXIgbGFuZ3VhZ2UgaGFzIHRocmVlIHR5cGVzIGNhbGxlZCCBZ0thdGFrYW5hgWgs
   6 IIFnSGlyYWdhbmGBaCBhbmQgDQqBZ0thbmppgWguIA0KVGhpcyBlLW1haWwgY29udGFpbnMgYWxs
   7 IHRoZSB0eXBlcy4gDQqDQ4NOg1aDQYLNgmiCd4Jrgm6CYIJjglKBRIJQgk+CyYLEg4GBW4OLi0CU
   8 XILwIA0Kk/qWe4zqkc6JnoKzgrmC6YLngrWCooLFgreC5oFCIA0KgqCCooKkgqaCqIFBg0GDQ4NF
   9 g0eDSSANCoKpgquCrYKvgrGBQYNKg0yDToNQg1IgDQqCs4K1greCuYK7gUGDVINWg1iDWoNcIA0K
  10 gr2Cv4LCgsSCxoFBg16DYINjg2WDZyANCoLIgsmCyoLLgsyBQYNpg2qDa4Nsg20gDQqCzYLQgtOC
  11 1oLZgUGDboNxg3SDd4N6IA0KgtyC3YLegt+C4IFBg32DfoOAg4GDgiANCoLiguSC5oFBg4aDhoOI
  12 IA0KgueC6ILpguqC64FBg4mDioOLg4yDjSANCoLtgvCC8YFBg4+DSYOTIA0KgmCCYYJigmOCZIJl
  13 gmaCZ4JogmmCaoJrgmyCbYJugm+CcIJxgnKCc4J0gnWCdoJ3gniCeSANCoKBgoKCg4KEgoWChoKH
  14 goiCiYKKgouCjIKNgo6Cj4KQgpGCkoKTgpSClYKWgpeCmIKZgpogDQqBQoFBgWmBaoGBgXuBW4GW
  15 gY+BdYF2gUmBlIGQgZOBlYFggYSBg4GbgX6BooGggZmB9CANCpOMi56Tc49hkkqL5pHjgViW2IJS
  16 gXyCUYJUgXyCUiANCoKggqKCqIKikbmV25BWj2iDcoOLglCCVYpLIA0Kg0ODToNWg0GKlI6uie+O
  17 0CANCg=="""
  18 
  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.