Difference between Japanese and International Kindle Models

santanar · 04-14-2014, 03:01 AM

Hey guys,

I am currently living in Hong Kong and want to buy a Kindle Paperwhite 2. As it is not sold official by amazon here, I was looking for parallel import devices. The only ones I found were imported from Japan for a very competetive price (9300 HKD ~87 EUR). The one thing that makes me hesitate is that I dont know the differences between the japanese (PW2J, serial# begins with B05A, 905A)
and international models (PW2, serial# begins with B0D4, 90D4).

Can anyone help me ? Is it possible to root the PW2J?

eschwartz · 04-14-2014, 03:21 AM

I believe the main difference is the 3G Japanese version only works (the 3G, that is) in Japan, and the Japanese version has 4GB storage, not 2GB.

eschwartz · 04-14-2014, 03:22 AM

The jailbreak WILL work.

Kumabjorn · 04-14-2014, 03:54 AM

Also it comes standard with a Jap - Jap Dictionary installed, but you can download other dictionaries that better suit your needs.

santanar · 04-15-2014, 10:00 AM

oh very cool, thanks for your help. I dont need 3G anyway and ofc I prefer 4 GB over 2 GB :-)

JohnRR · 04-15-2014, 10:07 PM

Also, Japanese Kindle Paperwhite 2 doesn't have simplified Chinese interface. Amazon doesn't want people form Mainland China to buy parallel import from Japan. It wants them to buy the official ones sold in Mainland China. But of course, it can read both traditional and simplified Chinese books without problems.

Vmurph · 04-16-2014, 04:19 AM

4GB? Wish I'd known that before ordering mine.

I would've imported if I'd known. Why does the Japanese model have double the storage? Or should I be asking why ours has half :-\

Kumabjorn · 04-16-2014, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vmurph

4GB? Wish I'd known that before ordering mine.

I would've imported if I'd known. Why does the Japanese model have double the storage? Or should I be asking why ours has half :-\

Japanese is what is called a double byte rendering, hence each character requires twice the amount of storage, so the Japanese get the same amount of storage as Americans with regards to tyre amount of books the Kindle will hold.

Vmurph · 04-16-2014, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Japanese is what is called a double byte rendering, hence each character requires twice the amount of storage, so the Japanese get the same amount of storage as Americans with regards to tyre amount of books the Kindle will hold.

Ahh, I see. Thank you for explaining. I feel a little foolish now.

Kumabjorn · 04-16-2014, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vmurph

Ahh, I see. Thank you for explaining. I feel a little foolish now.

No need to. If you are not a persisten user of Japanese e-books or software there is no way you can be expected to have encounter these idiosyncarcies.

HarryT · 04-16-2014, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

No need to. If you are not a persisten user of Japanese e-books or software there is no way you can be expected to have encounter these idiosyncarcies.

Depends how the book is encoded - if it's in UTF8, some characters will be single byte, other double-byte. If it's UTF16, all characters will be double-byte. Do Amazon Japanese books all use UTF16? I've no idea.

Kumabjorn · 04-16-2014, 06:19 PM

The single byte characters in UTF8 are all alphabetic, numeric, Cyrillic, wingdings, line drawing etc, when you get to Hanzhi, Hangul and Kanji you reach the double byte segments. If nothing else for backward compatibility.

HarryT · 04-16-2014, 06:58 PM

Punctuation is also single-byte. I'm certainly not disagreeing with the basic point, though, that most of a Japanese book will be double-byte encoded.

Kumabjorn · 04-16-2014, 10:34 PM

Actually, even punctuation is double bytes, they look like this.
、？！。『』
The two to the furthest right are quotation marks.

Yellowfrog · 04-17-2014, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by santanar

Hey guys,

I am currently living in Hong Kong and want to buy a Kindle Paperwhite 2. As it is not sold official by amazon here, I was looking for parallel import devices. The only ones I found were imported from Japan for a very competetive price (9300 HKD ~87 EUR). The one thing that makes me hesitate is that I dont know the differences between the japanese (PW2J, serial# begins with B05A, 905A)
and international models (PW2, serial# begins with B0D4, 90D4).

Can anyone help me ? Is it possible to root the PW2J?

FYI, I've seen the Paperwhite available at much more competitive prices, via what looks like an official importer; look here for the places to buy Kindles in HK:

http://www.e-motech.com/wheretobuy/index.html

I have seen the 4GB model in Bookazine as well.

04-14-2014, 03:01 AM	#1
santanar Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2014 Device: kindle PW2	Difference between Japanese and International Kindle Models Hey guys, I am currently living in Hong Kong and want to buy a Kindle Paperwhite 2. As it is not sold official by amazon here, I was looking for parallel import devices. The only ones I found were imported from Japan for a very competetive price (9300 HKD ~87 EUR). The one thing that makes me hesitate is that I dont know the differences between the japanese (PW2J, serial# begins with B05A, 905A) and international models (PW2, serial# begins with B0D4, 90D4). Can anyone help me ? Is it possible to root the PW2J?

04-16-2014, 06:58 PM	#13
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Punctuation is also single-byte. I'm certainly not disagreeing with the basic point, though, that most of a Japanese book will be double-byte encoded. Last edited by HarryT; 04-16-2014 at 07:00 PM.

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04-14-2014, 03:21 AM	#2
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	I believe the main difference is the 3G Japanese version only works (the 3G, that is) in Japan, and the Japanese version has 4GB storage, not 2GB.

04-14-2014, 03:22 AM	#3
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	The jailbreak WILL work.

04-14-2014, 03:54 AM	#4
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 4,356 Karma: 20181319 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	Also it comes standard with a Jap - Jap Dictionary installed, but you can download other dictionaries that better suit your needs.

04-15-2014, 10:00 AM	#5
santanar Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2014 Device: kindle PW2	oh very cool, thanks for your help. I dont need 3G anyway and ofc I prefer 4 GB over 2 GB :-)

04-15-2014, 10:07 PM	#6
JohnRR Connoisseur Posts: 61 Karma: 642334 Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Earth Device: None	Also, Japanese Kindle Paperwhite 2 doesn't have simplified Chinese interface. Amazon doesn't want people form Mainland China to buy parallel import from Japan. It wants them to buy the official ones sold in Mainland China. But of course, it can read both traditional and simplified Chinese books without problems.

04-16-2014, 04:19 AM	#7
Vmurph Cat Whisperer Posts: 239 Karma: 2490708 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: (USA) In the Hall of the Mountain King Device: Kindles Oasis 3, Kindle Oasis 1, and iPhone XS Max	4GB? Wish I'd known that before ordering mine. I would've imported if I'd known. Why does the Japanese model have double the storage? Or should I be asking why ours has half :-\

04-16-2014, 06:19 PM	#12
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 4,356 Karma: 20181319 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	The single byte characters in UTF8 are all alphabetic, numeric, Cyrillic, wingdings, line drawing etc, when you get to Hanzhi, Hangul and Kanji you reach the double byte segments. If nothing else for backward compatibility.

04-16-2014, 10:34 PM	#14
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 4,356 Karma: 20181319 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	Actually, even punctuation is double bytes, they look like this. 、？！。『』 The two to the furthest right are quotation marks.