Walden House Brand Story

Thoughts After Watching Japanese Input

Three years ago, I watched my wife, who had just started learning Japanese, type Japanese using the English keyboard. To write "watashiwa..." she had to type "w-a-t-a-s-i-h-a..." like this. The Romaji input method. I knew about it, but seeing it up close felt strange. "It must be inconvenient for the Japanese. Having to borrow English letters to type their own characters."

That thought wouldn't leave me. I talked to friends in IT, but their reactions were similar. "It's a good idea, but it doesn't align with our company's direction..." "The market seems too small..." Two years ago, when ChatGPT first came out, I casually tried having it code. Complete failure. I gave up.

An Unexpected Reunion

In the first semester of 2025, as more Chinese students enrolled at my university, I started using the paid version of ChatGPT as a translation tool. It seemed like a waste to use it just for translation, so I tried having it code again. Surprisingly, it worked this time. Had AI advanced this much in two years?

But since I didn't know Japanese, I struggled for about a month. Eventually, I changed direction. Let me start with what I know. The most frustrating thing while practicing calligraphy was typing Chinese characters on iPhone. I made HanjaKey first. It took three months. ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code... I learned by switching between tools. A film studies professor in his late 50s became a developer.

With that experience, I started in August and completed HanhonKey in about four months. Between university lectures and my work as director of a small international film festival, taking it slow.

26 Keys, The Diversity Above

While developing, I kept thinking. How many languages in the world can directly input their native language on a 26-key keyboard? English and Roman alphabet languages can. But Japanese, Chinese, Arabic... most have to go through English or learn a separate method.

English becoming the universal language of humanity is reality. But does that mean all languages should accept English input as a given? The question: "Why must everyone type Japanese through English?" I'm not saying English input is inefficient or should be eliminated. Just, should there be only one choice?

Even if demand is small, doesn't someone need it? Diversity is proven by the number of choices. That's how local cultures survive.

How to Share Culture

Korea and Japan have a complicated history, but they also share many commonalities. They're in the same Chinese character cultural sphere, and their language structures are similar.

In HanhonKey, removing the final consonants when typing Japanese was intentional. Japanese doesn't have final consonants (batchim). What's natural to Korean speakers is an unpronounceable sound to Japanese speakers. Using your own keyboard to type the other's language while respecting their language system. I think that's how cultural exchange should work.

The Practice of Walden House

In 2013, I visited Walden Pond in Concord, MA. In 2021, while looking at moonlight by Soyang Lake, I received the art name 越㬿齋 from my calligraphy teacher, Master Hasuk Park Won-kyu, for a thought I had. When starting the company in 2025, I changed it to 越暾齋. I thought warm sunlight was more fitting for a company name than romantic moonlight.

H. D. Thoreau didn't follow the ways the world had set; he lived his own way. I want to practice in my own way too. Creating things that never existed before. Not taking inconvenience for granted.

The Experimental Film and Video Festival in Seoul (EXiS) I've run for 23 years is in the same vein. Not commercial, not many audiences, but a festival someone definitely needs. Making things meaningful even if not mainstream. HanhonKey is the same.

Starting in My Late 50s

I started vibe coding at an age when friends are preparing for retirement. I can't write a single line of actual code, but creating logic and piecing things together one by one was like making a film. I wanted to show that anyone with ideas, courage, and interest can start in an entirely new field. It's okay to go slowly. What matters is starting, and continuing.