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# Input Japanese using ibus

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This article or section is a candidate for merging with ibus.

Notes: Move language-independent content to ibus and Japanese-specifics to Localization/Japanese. (Discuss in Talk:Input Japanese using ibus)

This page explains how to get the Japanese input to work using IBus.

If you use SCIM, see Smart Common Input Method platform.

If you use Uim, see Input Japanese using uim.

## Installation

You need the following packages to input Japanese.

- Japanese fonts
- Japanese input method (Kana to Kanji conversion engine)
- Input method framework: ibus

### Japanese fonts

see also Fonts, Font configuration and Localization/Japanese for configuration or more detail.

Recommended Japanese fonts are as follows.

#### Sans-serif

- adobe-source-han-sans || adobe-source-han-sans-jp-fonts or adobe-source-han-sans-otc-fonts

  Open-source OTF fonts developed by Adobe.

#### Serif and Sans-serif

- IPA fonts || otf-ipafont

  An open source OTF font set including sans-serif (Gothic) and serif (Mincho) glyphs provided by Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA).

If you want to show 2channel Shift JIS art properly, use the following fonts:

- Monapo font (AUR: ttf-monapoAUR)

### ibus

Install the ibus package.

### Input method

#### Anthy

Anthy is one of the most popular Japanese input methods in the open source world.

Install ibus-anthy from the official repositories.

#### Mozc

See Mozc.

Mozc is a Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) designed for multi-platform such as Chromium OS, Windows, Mac and Linux which originates from Google Japanese Input.

Install ibus-mozcAUR which is available on AUR.

## Settings

### Environment variables

Apply the following environment variables to Xorg:

    GTK_IM_MODULE='ibus'
    QT_IM_MODULE='ibus'
    GLFW_IM_MODULE='ibus'
    XMODIFIERS='@im=ibus'

### Using systemd

If you are using systemd to manage your X session, you will need to set the environment variables in your systemd session rather than an init script.

    ~/.config/systemd/user/ibus-env.service

    [Unit]
    Description=ibus environment initialization
    Before=xorg.target

    [Service]
    Type=oneshot
    ExecStart=/usr/bin/systemctl --user set-environment XMODIFIERS=@im=ibus
    ExecStart=/usr/bin/systemctl --user set-environment GTK_IM_MODULE=ibus
    ExecStart=/usr/bin/systemctl --user set-environment QT_IM_MODULE=ibus
    ExecStart=/usr/bin/systemctl --user set-environment GLFW_IM_MODULE=ibus

    ~/.config/systemd/user/ibus.service

    [Unit]
    Description=ibus daemon
    Wants=ibus-env.service
    After=xorg.target

    [Service]
    ExecStart=/usr/bin/ibus-daemon
    Restart=on-abort

    [Install]
    WantedBy=xorg.target

Lastly, you will need to enable `ibus.service`

### ibus preferences

Configure ibus preferences by running:

    $ ibus-setup

which brings forth a GUI.

Navigate to the 'Input Method' tab, click on 'Add', click on 'Japanese' and select your input method.

Now click on the newly added list entry and click on 'Preferences' to configure your input method.

#### Anthy preferences

Change 'Input Mode:' from 'Latin' to 'Hiragana'

#### After cofiguration

You can run `ibus-daemon -dr` or restart X to test your settings.

By default `Super+Space` cycles between your input methods

Provided everything went well you should be able to input Japanese in X.

## See also

ibus
  GitHub repository

Fonts
  Japanese fonts showcase[dead link 2024-10-12—HTTP 404]
  modified Japanese fonts

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- Localization

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