Computer won't read japanese!

I'm living in Japan and using an english operating system (Windows XP). I just moved to a new house and got the internet connected. As far as I can gather, in order to have full access to the internet, I need to run a little hard drive they gave me and follow the instructions on it. Problem is I can't read the instructions. Not because I can't read japanese (though that's another problem) but because it opens as random letters and symbols.
I THINK I've got the japanese character system enabled. I have no trouble with japanese characters on Windows or Gmail, though I have had the same problem using yahoo mail.
Any ideas?

 

there are several ideas:

1) the file with instructions is damaged and it's very unlikely to restore it

2) wrong character set.

If your instructions are saved in .txt file, it may represent wrong japanese character set (as I know there are three ones for Japan) and you will see random letters and symbols. The most simple way to read the document is to copy the text exactly and past it to the letter in your e-mail client and send this letter to yourself. When you get the letter, try to apply all character sets using your e-mail client.
Also, check out if your Regional settings are supported japanese (control panel - regional settings)