PURPOSE: To recognizes the characters of a handwritten character string while reducing the burden on a writer.

CONSTITUTION: On the basis of a stroke string inputted from the input part 10a of a display integrated tablet 10, a character segmentation part 12 actuates a character segmentation part 14 unless a stroke is inputted for a certain time to segment the stroke string which is handwritten so far into characters in a 1st system. In a 2nd system, on the other hand, the character segmentation control part 12 actuates the character segmentation part 14 when the longitudinal/lateral ratio of the inputted stroke string exceeds a specific value to segment a stroke string which is handwritten so far and not recognized. Therefore, the need for special operation for indicating the start of the character segmenting process by the writer is eliminated.