This page contains information on Japanese text editing and word processing on the Mac. (If you have not enabled Japanese input on your computer, visit the first page of this site first to find out how.) The full site contents is as follows:
Once you install the Japanese language abilities in your Mac system, you can write Japanese documents with a range of word processors.
There are many options for simple Japanese text editing without special formatting (like simple notes or HTML code). Here are two or three that I use:
TextEdit. You can start off experimenting with this relatively simple text editor that comes with OS X. TextEdit has the ability to open and save files in a range of different encodings. See the encodings page on this site for details. 
BBEdit is an industrial strength text editor with features for programming and web development. It has an even wider range of encoding options than TextEdit. BBEdit is probably most useful for those who want to write Japanese or bilingual html code. In fact, I use it to maintain this web site. Writing web pages with BBEdit is treated in more detail on the web authoring page of this site. Version $125 ($49 educational price).
Here are some possible options if you need to produce more intensively formatted printed documents. Some can even handle special Japanese formatting options like vertical text.
iText Express from LightWay is a free Japanese word processor with English menus and documentation. It combines the simplicity of Apple's TextEdit with some advanced word-processing features, including vertical text and Japanese manuscript (genkô yôshi) layout. (The latter is a feature even MS Word does not have.) iText Express can save files in rtf, unicode text, and other formats. The developers also produce more powerful shareware versions of the program (iTextPro and LightWayText) with even more features like Ruby/Furigana. (iText Express is free. iTextPro and LightWayText are about $15 and $25, respectively).
Mellel is a word processor that advertises its ability to combine and format many different non-roman languages. I have not tried it, but it looks promising. $49, or $35 educational price.
Microsoft Word. For a more full-featured word processor compatible with Japanese, MS Word includes a lineup of features for working in Japanese, like vertical text, "ruby" or furigana and special search options and text formatting not used in English. To activate these features in Word or other Office programs, you need to use a program called the Microsoft Language Register. (It should be in the Microsoft Office folder under "Additional Tools"; if not, look for it on your Office install CD). Different versions of the Language Register work slightly differently; just open the application and it will give you instructions.
Nisus Writer.Earlier versions of Nisus had inline Japanese input and specialized Japanese features long before MS Word. Microsoft Word has caught up, though, and now it has the edge over Nisus in terms of Japanese features. Nisus was very slow to develop an OS X version of the program with full Japanese functionality, but the more recent versions can finally open and read the complex Japanese documents I created with early versions (usually). It now comes in two flavors, Express and Pro, for $45 and $79 ($26 and $39 educational pricing)
Pages is Apple's Word Processing and page layout software. I have used it very little, but it does support Japanese.
Tate is a freeware text processor that lets you compose (and print) text vertically. It also has many options for adding ruby/furigana. It works with Mac OS 10.4 and 10.5. The download page is in Japanese.
I don't do any design work, so I mostly make do with the Japanese fonts distributed with OS X. For those who want something more:
Wazu has an excellent list of free unicode fonts available on the web, including links to many Japanese fonts you can download. The site is in English.
Hakushu Shotai also has some interesting Japanese fonts you can download free. The site is in Japanese, and the free fonts come with some license restrictions, and generally include only a subset of the most common kanji.
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