The average typewriter had up to 40 keys and could type around 60 characters.
Originally made in Japan in the late 1940s, the Toshiba Typewriter Model BW-2112 had over 1,000 characters in three different languages (Japanese, English, and Chinese).
One would assume it was intended for typing out official documents in occupied Japan, but that is just a guess.
It is cool, though.
youtube.com/watch?v=JZcui85b4EE&feature=emb_logo
via Book of Joe
You just finished reading 1,172-Character Japanese Typewriter (video) which was published on The Digital Reader.