Currently J2SE doesn't follow the IANA definition of the MIME tag
"shift_jis", which is defined as an MS932 (Microsoft Codepage 932) alias
in J2SE. This is because most Japanese developers and end users think that
what Microsoft does for their Windows operating systems is the correct
"Shift-JIS" support. If Java didn't behave in the same way as other
Windows software, such as Outlook Express, MS Word, Netscape Communicator
(composer), people would think it's a bug in Java even Java did it right.
(See bug# 4100019)

This is causing, however, different problems in the network environment
when Java needs to talk to systems that correctly interpret the MIME
tags. For example, it's fatal that Java can't interpret the specified
charset in XML correctly.

It might be time to change the "shift_jis" as an alias of SJIS
(JIS-defined "Shift-JIS". Refer to JIS X 0208:1997).

Note that this change may generate bug reports from those who think
"shift_jis" is a synonym of Microsoft Codepage 932. Sun needs to be ready
to tell them that they are wrong.