Shimeji on Windows 11 and Windows 10

Why Shimeji got hard to set up

The original Shimeji dates from 2009, and its community version, Shimeji-ee, is a Java program. To get it working on a modern PC, you have to:

• install Java yourself, and not just any version: Shimeji-ee needs an old Java, in practice Java 8, because recent versions no longer include the scripting engine it relies on;
• unzip an archive and start the program by hand;
• do it again after every restart, because nothing starts it with Windows;
• live with the Shimeji on screen all the time, even during a movie or a game, until you close the program.

What Shimeji Desktop Reloaded does

It keeps the Shimeji-ee engine and its characters, and takes care of everything else.

• A single 23.4 MB installer with its own Java. Nothing else to install, and any Java already on your PC is left alone.
• No administrator rights: the app installs for your Windows account only.
• It starts with Windows and waits next to the clock, without opening a window.
• The Shimeji arrive when you step away and leave when you come back, screen by screen, on up to three screens.
• They walk on the taskbar, wherever it is, and on any docks you’ve installed.
• A settings window in seven languages replaces the configuration files.

It runs on Windows 10 and Windows 11, 64-bit.

Install Shimeji in three steps

1. Download the installer from the Download page.
2. Run it. If Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”, click More info, then Run anyway: why this warning appears.
3. Open Shimeji Desktop Reloaded from the Start menu and click Try for 30 seconds to see them right away.

If the Shimeji don’t show up

• Check that the On switch is turned on, at the top of the settings window.
• They wait until you haven’t touched the keyboard, mouse or controller on that screen for the time you picked: 5 minutes to start with.
• They don’t come to a screen where a video is playing, or to a fullscreen game. Both settings are on the Behavior tab.
• Make sure the screen is turned on in the Screens tab.
• If your antivirus blocks the app, read the antivirus question.

Bring your old characters

Your Shimeji-ee characters can come along: drag their .zip, .rar or .7z file onto the Characters tab. If all you have left is the folder of their images, zip it first. Everything is explained on the Characters page.

Read next

• Desktop pet
• Screensaver
• Guide