[MidoriHime]

I think there is a japanese toolbar that you can download on to your computer and it will allow you to write in japanese and kanji. I'll try to figure out where you can download it...I'll warn you, I still have trouble using it on
e-mails. It comes out all messed up when I send it.
You are correct about reading left to right horizontally and right to left vertically.
Trying to read japanese might be difficult if you do not know any kanji. I am
guessing you know hiragana and katakana? About 'japanese puncuation'... a period is like a little circle, and a comma is pretty much the same...
I have been studying japanese for several years as my second language and would love to help you with the basics! Um, if you could tell me how much
of the japanese letters you know, we could start from there...so, please let me know!