SHOW VARIABLES LIKE "%character_set%"

array(2) { ["Variable_name"]=> string(20) "character_set_client" ["Value"]=> string(6) "latin1" }
array(2) { ["Variable_name"]=> string(24) "character_set_connection" ["Value"]=> string(6) "latin1" }
array(2) { ["Variable_name"]=> string(22) "character_set_database" ["Value"]=> string(4) "utf8" }
array(2) { ["Variable_name"]=> string(24) "character_set_filesystem" ["Value"]=> string(6) "binary" }
array(2) { ["Variable_name"]=> string(21) "character_set_results" ["Value"]=> string(6) "latin1" }
array(2) { ["Variable_name"]=> string(20) "character_set_server" ["Value"]=> string(6) "latin1" }
array(2) { ["Variable_name"]=> string(20) "character_set_system" ["Value"]=> string(4) "utf8" }
array(2) { ["Variable_name"]=> string(18) "character_sets_dir" ["Value"]=> string(32) "/usr/local/share/mysql/charsets/" }

Experiment 1

Select Japanese data from MySQL, print the data returned by mysql_result()

姫川　かずみ

Get HEX Value of string

e5a7abe5b79de38080e3818be3819ae381bf

Experiment 2

Within MySQL, select HEX value of Japanese data

C3A5C2A7C2ABC3A5C2B7C29DC3A3E282ACE282ACC3A3C281E280B9C3A3C281C5A1C3A3C281C2BF

Experiment 3

CONVERT(CAST(CONVERT(japanese USING latin1) AS BINARY) USING utf8)

??????

Run bin2hex on this

3f3f3f3f3f3f

Experiment 4

HEX(CONVERT(CAST(CONVERT(japanese USING latin1) AS BINARY)USING utf8))

E5A7ABE5B79DE38080E3818BE3819AE381BF

Run hex2bin on this

姫川　かずみ

Experiment 5

UNHEX(HEX(CONVERT(CAST(CONVERT(japanese USING latin1) AS BINARY)USING utf8)))

姫川　かずみ