Can anyone enlighten me as to how to get diacriticals to render on a screen correctly?

All I get is, for example: Ianovy komentá?e k text?m n?kterých písní z jeho života.

Is there a way to set the page to pick up the correct character code without having to type in special html characters for every accented letter? I use 'shift_JIS' in the header for Japanese pages.

It's a puzzle and I don't really want to upload without the proper accents.

Thanks.