diff --git a/swig/ruby/yui.gemspec.in b/swig/ruby/yui.gemspec.in
index 2bfb3c0..ec564a1 100644
--- a/swig/ruby/yui.gemspec.in
+++ b/swig/ruby/yui.gemspec.in
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 # -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-
+if RUBY_VERSION =~ /1.9/
+  Encoding.default_external = Encoding::UTF_8
+  Encoding.default_internal = Encoding::UTF_8
+end
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.name        = "yui"
diff --git a/swig/yui.i b/swig/yui.i
index 8c07f25..bb7a687 100644
--- a/swig/yui.i
+++ b/swig/yui.i
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ SWIGEXPORT void Init__yui(void) {
 #include "yui/YFrame.h"
 #include "yui/YImage.h"
 #include "yui/YInputField.h"
+#include "yui/YItem.h"
 #include "yui/YLogView.h"
 #include "yui/YMacro.h"
 #include "yui/YMacroPlayer.h"
@@ -122,6 +123,7 @@ class intrusive_ptr {
 %include "exception.i"
 %include "std_string.i"
 %include "std_list.i"
+%include "std_vector.i"
 
 #if defined(SWIGPERL5)
 /* %include "std/std_set.i" # doesn't compile ?! */
@@ -252,6 +254,13 @@ class Exception;
 }
 #endif
 
+namespace std {
+    %template(YItemCollection) vector<YItem *>;
+}
+
+using namespace std;
+typedef std::vector<YItem *> YItemCollection;
+
 %extend YWidget {
 #if defined(SWIGPERL5)
   int __eq__( YWidget *w )