Typing Numbers & Symbols — JIS vs US Layouts, the Numpad, and the Long-Vowel Key

You reach the digit row by stretching your home-row fingers up two rows. The standard touch-typing fingering is in the table below.

Return to the home row after each digit. 5 and 6 are neighbors but belong to different index fingers. Looking at first is fine. Alternate drills in order (1 to 0) with drills in scrambled order. For the home position itself, see the Home Row Position Diagram.

For large amounts of numeric input, the numpad on the right can be the better tool. But many keyboards have none, so fixing your number-row fingering first means it works on any machine.

• When the numpad fits

  Amounts, invoices, spreadsheets: runs of digits with nothing else. Your right hand can stay on the pad.

• When the number row fits

  Digits inside sentences (dates, prices, IDs). Reaching up from where your hand already is moves less than going over to the numpad.

• When there is no numpad

  Many laptops and compact keyboards have none. Use the number row there.

• Numpad posture

  A commonly described setup rests the right index finger on 4, the middle finger on 5, and the ring finger on 6. Some keyboards put a tactile bump on 5 and some do not. This is not fixed by a standard or by research, so feel your own keyboard and decide.

Typing Musou picks up numpad 0–9 as input, but no prompt asks for digits, so it does not practice the numpad (see “How much can you practice in Typing Musou?” below).

On JIS and US keyboards the 26 letter keys sit in the same places. What differs is where symbols live and whether Shift is needed. The table lists the symbols whose positions differ. “Shift+2” means pressing Shift and the 2 key together.

Some symbols sit in the same place. ! # $ % are Shift+1, 3, 4, 5 on both. , . / and their Shift sides < > ? are the same keys. - is the key right of 0 on both, and ; is the key right of L on both.

@ " ' : _ = are the ones most often used in email addresses and URLs, and they differ a lot. Check each position once on your keyboard and decide which finger types it. Choosing a Keyboard for Typing Practice may help you pick a layout.

• Standard fingering: Shift with the opposite pinky

  Press Shift with the pinky on the opposite side from the key you are typing: the left Shift for symbols on the right, the right Shift for symbols on the left. Pressing Shift and the symbol with the same hand is cramped. No standard fixes this; it is the usual touch-typing convention.

• Whether Shift is needed depends on the layout

  For example, : needs no Shift on JIS but is Shift+; on US. @ needs no Shift on JIS but is Shift+2 on US. When you switch keyboards, recheck symbols like these first.

In romaji input, you type “ー” with the “-” (hyphen) key. For example, コーヒー is typed ko-hi- and then converted to katakana. This key sits right of 0 on both JIS and US. With Shift, it gives = on JIS and _ on US.

The usual finger is the right pinky, stretched up two rows from the ; position on the home row. It is a long reach, so practicing it together with 0 is a good idea.

Hiragana words such as おとうさん or せんせい are typed by repeating the vowel, so they do not use “ー”. The mark is for the stretched sounds of katakana words such as コーヒー, ラーメン, and サーバー.

In the same romaji input, , and . give “、” and “。”, and [ and ] give “「” and “」” (from the conversion table of Mozc, the open-source version of Google Japanese Input). IMEs can differ in details, so check with the one you use.

You do not need every symbol. Start with the ones in the text you actually type. The lists below are examples I chose, not a frequency study.

• Email addresses

  @ . - _ (example: name@example.com). @ and _ differ between JIS and US.

• URLs

  : / . - _ ? = & # (example: https://example.com/a-b?x=1&y=2). : = & differ between JIS and US.

• Code

  ( ) [ ] { } ; = < > " '. Drill brackets as opening-and-closing pairs. Switching layouts keeps positions from settling, so match the layout you write code on.

To be honest, very little. I checked the contents of every prompt; the result is below (as of October 18, 2026).

The game accepts a–z, 0–9, and , . - as input. Of these, the prompts actually ask for only letters and , .

For digits and symbols, practice on text you really type: invoice amounts, email addresses, code. Use the game for the groundwork, which is letter-key fingering and how to use your fingers for “、” and “。”.

This order is my own suggestion, not something research has confirmed. Work through it one step at a time.

1. 01.1. Type the number row from 1 to 0 without looking, returning to the home row after each digit
2. 02.2. Type digits in scrambled order (example: 4 7 2 9 0 1)
3. 03.3. Pick 3–5 symbols you really use, check their positions in the table, and decide which finger types each
4. 04.4. Add symbols that need Shift (Shift with the opposite pinky)
5. 05.5. Mix them into real text: dates, amounts, email addresses

For how often and how long to practice, see How much daily typing practice do you need?. For the overall map of practice, see How to Get Faster at Typing.

• Q. Which key is @?

  On the JIS layout it is the key right of P, with no Shift. On the US layout it is Shift+2. If you are unsure, read the legend on your keyboard.

• Q. Which key types the long-vowel mark “ー”?

  In romaji input, the “-” (hyphen) key, which is right of 0 on both JIS and US. The usual finger is the right pinky. Hiragana words like おとうさん are typed by repeating the vowel, so they do not use “ー”.

• Q. Do I need the numpad to type digits fast?

  It depends. For runs of digits such as amounts or invoices, the numpad fits. For digits inside sentences, the number row moves your hands less. Many keyboards have no numpad, so fix your number-row fingering first and it works everywhere.

• Q. Should I learn symbol positions on JIS or US?

  Learn the layout you use most. Letters sit in the same places; symbols are what differ. If you use both, recheck only the symbols whose positions differ, such as @ " ' : _ =.

• Q. Can I practice numbers and symbols in Typing Musou?

  Very little. Neither the prompt dictionary nor the Dojo contains digits or “ー”. The only symbols you can practice are the punctuation marks “、” and “。”, which start at Stage 65 of the Home Position Dojo. Practice digits and symbols on text you really type.

• Q. Which hand should press Shift?

  The standard fingering uses the pinky on the side opposite the key you are typing. No standard requires it. If pressing with the same hand feels cramped, try the other hand.

I checked symbol positions and the key for “ー” against the data below (October 18, 2026). I did not check the text of standards such as JIS X 6002, nor a physical keyboard. What the game’s prompts contain is the result of my own count of the dictionary file and the Home Position Dojo data.

1. xkeyboard-config: symbols/jp (Japanese 109-key layout) — symbol positions on JIS
2. xkeyboard-config: symbols/us (US layout) — symbol positions on US
3. Mozc: romanji-hiragana.tsv (romaji input conversion table) — mappings such as “-” to “ー” and “,” to “、”. I did not check Microsoft IME’s table

Digits run from the left pinky (1) to the right pinky (0) along the top row. Symbols differ between JIS and US, so before memorizing positions, decide “this key, this finger” on your own keyboard. The long-vowel mark “ー” is the “-” key, right of 0 on both layouts.

What Typing Musou can practice is letter-key fingering and the keys for “、” and “。”. Digits and “ー” do not appear in its prompts. Today, start by typing 1 to 0 on the number row without looking.