NEC 日本電気 M-Type keyboard

The Japanese are truely the pioneer of keyboard design. All these are symmetric.

M-system

NEC 日本電気 Keyboard based on a then new Japanese language input system, called M-式 (M-system or M-type).

Note that the M-system layout for English, has all vowels {E, U, I, A, O} for left hand. This is similar to Dvorak Keyboard Layout.

M-system is designed by Dr. Masasuke Morita at NEC in the early 1980s.

Here's the translation (by Google translate)

Former Japanese electrical special adviser Morita Masanori M-type keyboard that Mr. devised ( '83 ~) . Vowel to the left , and remember the ease of key arrangement to place the consonants to the right , by a composite key in which you can enter the left and right alternately typing and multiple string with a single keystroke , that was realized a high-speed Japanese input . In addition to that it has been mounted on a great writer , for the PC-8801/9801, is for Windows was released

More info about M-type keyboard:

• 写真で見るＭ式キーボードの歴史 At http://qpress.jp/morita/m_keys.htm
• 【NEC】 Keyboard based on new input system (M system) 2013-01-21 By Information Processing Society Of Japan. At http://museum.ipsj.or.jp/en/computer/word/0027.html

TRON Keyboard of Japan

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