OT - MySQL, PHP, and Japanese text

[N Cueto]

I'm using "put URL tURL" to 
call a PHP page, which in
turn accesses a MySQL
database. (Please note that
PHP is the only way my 
webhost allows MySQL 
administration.)

This was working fine
until I tried selecting
Japanese text, which
is now ending up garbled
at stack level.

If it helps, here's my
script for retrieving
records:

on mouseUp
  put "http://webpage.php" into tURL
  put URL tURL into tTempResult
  replace "<cr>" with cr in tTempResult
  replace "," with tab in tTempResult
  put empty into tResult
  repeat for each line tLine in tTempResult
    if tLine is "" then next repeat
    put tLine & cr after tResult
  end repeat
end mouseUp

What I'm not sure off is:

1) is the "replace ","" command
breaking up the Japanese string?

2) at MySQL admin-level, does
Japanese text require a special
data type or data setting? It's
varchar now.

3) at stack level, is there some
command for setting received-data
type? I'm not sure what I mean
here, other than I've read before
about things like binary encoding 
but only with a vague understanding

As always, many thanks for the
advise that, withoug fail, always
arrives generously and kindly
delivered. (I gush a bit because
of the recent negativity about
the docs and some aspect of 
RunRev.)

Cheers,
Nicolas Cueto
niconiko language school