RC Logr 20190316 091856

Saturday, 16 Mar, 2019

Heard about the #HHKBChallenge in the Bay Area by @taromatsumura? I have used PFU Happy Hacking HHKB keyboards for years, one at work and one at home. I love the form factor because desk space is at a premium here in Japan, the fact that they are not so heavy so you can schlep them on the train without too much trouble, and for the perfect-feeling Topre switches. You can buy a programmable controller to replace the original Topre one, from Hasu.

I’m using Japanese versions of the HHKB to get arrow keys in US English layout, with keycaps swapped to English, and the Hasu controller. A good fit! ⌨︎💙

In addition: note that the switches are Topre, so keycap availability is limited, unlike with Cherry MX type switches. They are not compatible, so you need to get keycaps from PFU or Topre. I wanted some color when I got my HHKBs, so I got a spare set of yellow Topre key caps in Akihabara, and a kit with just 4 keys in it from PFU - blue and red escape and ctrl keys. When I got the idea to switch to the US English layout, I got the English keycap set from PFU and swapped it in. Also, at first I tried the black on grey color scheme, but that was way hard for me to use. I guess I need the legends.