diff --git a/backend/library.c b/backend/library.c
index cb68afe4..e182992c 100644
--- a/backend/library.c
+++ b/backend/library.c
@@ -568,7 +568,7 @@ int ZBarcode_ValidID(int symbol_id) {
 
 static int extended_charset(struct zint_symbol *symbol, const unsigned char *source, const int length) {
     int error_number = 0;
-
+        
     /* These are the "elite" standards which can support multiple character sets */
     switch (symbol->symbology) {
         case BARCODE_QRCODE: error_number = qr_code(symbol, source, length);
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ static int reduced_charset(struct zint_symbol *symbol, const unsigned char *sour
 #else
     unsigned char* preprocessed = (unsigned char*) _alloca(in_length + 1);
 #endif
-
+    
     if (symbol->symbology == BARCODE_CODE16K) {
         symbol->whitespace_width = 16;
         symbol->border_width = 2;
@@ -611,8 +611,8 @@ static int reduced_charset(struct zint_symbol *symbol, const unsigned char *sour
             symbol->output_options += BARCODE_BOX;
         }
     }
-
-    switch (symbol->input_mode) {
+    
+    switch (symbol->input_mode & 0x07) {
         case DATA_MODE:
         case GS1_MODE:
             memcpy(preprocessed, source, in_length);
@@ -626,7 +626,7 @@ static int reduced_charset(struct zint_symbol *symbol, const unsigned char *sour
             }
             break;
     }
-
+    
     switch (symbol->symbology) {
         case BARCODE_C25MATRIX: error_number = matrix_two_of_five(symbol, preprocessed, in_length);
             break;
@@ -814,7 +814,7 @@ int escape_char_process(struct zint_symbol *symbol, unsigned char *input_string,
 
     in_posn = 0;
     out_posn = 0;
-
+    
     do {
         if (input_string[in_posn] == '\\') {
             switch (input_string[in_posn + 1]) {
@@ -861,7 +861,14 @@ int escape_char_process(struct zint_symbol *symbol, unsigned char *input_string,
                     hex1 = ctoi(input_string[in_posn + 2]);
                     hex2 = ctoi(input_string[in_posn + 3]);
                     if ((hex1 >= 0) && (hex2 >= 0)) {
-                        escaped_string[out_posn] = (hex1 << 4) + hex2;
+                        if (hex1 > 7 && (symbol->input_mode & UNICODE_MODE) != 0) {
+                            // Convert to UTF-8
+                            escaped_string[out_posn] = 0xc0 + (hex1 >> 2);
+                            out_posn++;
+                            escaped_string[out_posn] = 0x80 + ((hex1 & 0x03) << 4) + hex2;
+                        } else {
+                            escaped_string[out_posn] = (hex1 << 4) + hex2;
+                        }
                         in_posn += 4;
                     } else {
                         strcpy(symbol->errtxt, "233: Corrupt escape character in input data");
@@ -881,11 +888,11 @@ int escape_char_process(struct zint_symbol *symbol, unsigned char *input_string,
         }
         out_posn++;
     } while (in_posn < *length);
-
+    
     memcpy(input_string, escaped_string, out_posn);
     input_string[out_posn] = '\0';
     *length = out_posn;
-
+    
     error_number = 0;
 
     return error_number;
@@ -1115,7 +1122,7 @@ int ZBarcode_Encode(struct zint_symbol *symbol, const unsigned char *source, int
         error_tag(symbol->errtxt, ZINT_ERROR_INVALID_OPTION);
         return ZINT_ERROR_INVALID_OPTION;
     }
-
+    
     switch (symbol->symbology) {
         case BARCODE_QRCODE:
         case BARCODE_MICROQR:
diff --git a/backend/zint.h b/backend/zint.h
index cee6d468..1b78b241 100644
--- a/backend/zint.h
+++ b/backend/zint.h
@@ -223,8 +223,6 @@ extern "C" {
 #define DATA_MODE	0
 #define UNICODE_MODE	1
 #define GS1_MODE	2
-#define KANJI_MODE	3
-#define SJIS_MODE	4
 #define ESCAPE_MODE     8
 
 // Data Matrix specific options
diff --git a/frontend/main.c b/frontend/main.c
index fdffbaf8..6ec8d5d7 100644
--- a/frontend/main.c
+++ b/frontend/main.c
@@ -432,8 +432,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
             {"primary", 1, 0, 0},
             {"scale", 1, 0, 0},
             {"gs1", 0, 0, 0},
-            {"kanji", 0, 0, 0},
-            {"sjis", 0, 0, 0},
             {"binary", 0, 0, 0},
             {"notext", 0, 0, 0},
             {"square", 0, 0, 0},
@@ -489,14 +487,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
                 if (!strcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "gs1")) {
                     my_symbol->input_mode = GS1_MODE;
                 }
-                if (!strcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "kanji")) {
-                    my_symbol->input_mode = KANJI_MODE;
-                }
-                if (!strcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "sjis")) {
-                    my_symbol->input_mode = SJIS_MODE;
-                }
                 if (!strcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "binary")) {
-                    my_symbol->input_mode = DATA_MODE;
+                    if (my_symbol->input_mode & ESCAPE_MODE) {
+                        my_symbol->input_mode = DATA_MODE + ESCAPE_MODE;
+                    } else {
+                        my_symbol->input_mode = DATA_MODE;
+                    }
                 }
                 if (!strcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "fg")) {
                     strncpy(my_symbol->fgcolour, optarg, 7);