The default behavior is for MATLAB to come up in Japanese on Japanese machines.
For versions 7.4 (R2007a) and before, if you want to use MATLAB in English on your Japanese Windows machine without changing the language setting in the control panel, create an environment variable called MATLAB_LANG and set this to "en".
For Windows 7:
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1.Open Regional and Language Options by clicking the "Start" button , clicking Control Panel,
clicking "Clock, Language, and Region", and then clicking "Regional and Language Options".
2.Click the "Format" tab.
3.Under Format, choose a language from the list, and then click "OK".
For Windows Vista:
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1. Search the keyword 'system' in the Start Menu.
2. Click on the System icon that pops up in the search. The System window will open up
3. In the left hand column, click on Advanced system settings
4. Under the "Advanced" tab, click on the "Environment Variables" button.
5. In here you can set (or add) the MATLAB_LANG variable to a value of en (for English).
For Windows NT/2000/XP:
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1. Click on Settings in the Start Menu
2. Choose Control Panel
3. Click on System
4. Choose the "Environment" tab (NT) or the "Advanced" tab and the "Environment Variables..." button.
5. In here you can set (or add) the MATLAB_LANG variable to en
For Windows 98/ME:
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1.add this line to your C:\autoexec.bat file:
SET MATLAB_LANG=en
MATLAB menus will then come up in English.
To get MATLAB help and error messages in English, type the following in your MATLAB Command Window:
set(0,'language','english')
To have MATLAB use English every time it starts up, you can put the above command in a MATLAB file called "startup.m". This file must always be available when MATLAB starts: it must either be in the directory in which MATLAB is started or in a directory already in the MATLAB path. Under Unix, it is commonly placed in the "matlab" directory under your home directory. Under Windows, it is commonly placed either in C:\MATLAB\TOOLBOX\LOCAL, or in the directory in which MATLAB starts. The latter can be set by looking at the "properties" of the MATLAB startup icon shortcut or Start Menu item (Windows 95/NT/2000/XP right click the shortcut or Start Menu item).
