How To: Japanese Language in Kubuntu

[whatthefunk]

This guide will show you how to set up and use Japanese on your Kubuntu computer. All methods were tested in Kubuntu 13.04. Please feel free to contribute to this guide or let me know if there is a problem with it.

Note: This guide is out of date and is only applicable to Kubuntu versions 13.04 and lower.

INDEX

- Changing your system language to Japanese

- Enabling Japanese language input

- Installing Japanese fonts

- Useful programs for students of Japanese

[whatthefunk]

Changing your system language to Japanese

*Note that completing all of these steps will give you a system with Japanese menus and documentation.

1. Go to the Application Launcher in the bottom left corner and navigate to System in the Applications tab.


2. In the Settings menu, open up Muon Package Manager.


3. Search for "language-pack-kde-ja" click on the package, and click the Mark for Installation button in the bottom right corner.


4. A small window will pop up asking you to confirm the installation of additional packages. Click OK.

5. In the upper left hand area of the Muon window, click the Apply Changes button.

You will be asked to enter your password before your new packages are installed.

6. You will need to restart your system before the new packages can be used. Go to the Leave tab of the Application Launcher and click Restart.


7. Once your computer has restarted, open System Settings from the Favorites tab of the Application Launcher.

8. Double click on Locale.


9. Under the Languages tab, select Japanese from the list of languages on the left, and use the right arrow button to move it over to the right side of the window. You will have to enter your password.


10. Remove any other languages from the list on the right and click Apply in the bottom right corner.

11. For changes to take effect, you will have to log out of your current session. To do this, go to the Leave tab of the Application Menu (as we did in step #6) and click Log out. When you log back in, your system will be in Japanese.

To reverse these changes, simply go back to the System Settings > Locale > Languages and move Japanese back to the left side of the window. Move you language of choice to the right side, click Apply, and log out for the changes to take effect.

[whatthefunk]

Enabling Japanese language input

This guide will show you how to set up your system so that you can type in Japanese.

1. Complete steps 1-9 in the above guide "Changing your system language to Japanese." These steps install system files necessary for Japanese language input.

2. After the Japanese language files have been installed in System Settings > Locale > Languages, move Japanese back to the left side of the window using the small arrow button. Click Apply in the bottom right corner and close the window.

3. In the Application Launcher, go to the Applications tab, and click Settings. Click on Keyboard Input Methods.

A small window will open asking you if you want to start ibus. Click OK.

4. A bigger window will open called IBus Preferences. Navigate to the Input Methods tab and check the box that says "Customize active input methods."


5. This is the confusing part. In the Input Methods tab, below the box you just checked, there is a drop down menu that says "Select an input method." Click on this. A pull down menu will appear that says 日本語 and to the left of this is a tiny little arrow. Click on this arrow to reveal the Anthy input method.


6. Select Anthy and click Add. Close the IBus Preferences window.


7. Go to the Application Launcher and navigate to Applications > System and click on Terminal.


8. Once you've opened the terminal, install the package im-switch with the following code:

sudo apt-get install im-switch

You will have to enter your password and approve the installation of im-switch and the removal of im-config by typing "y" and hitting enter.

9. When it has installed, type:

im-switch -s ibus

This will tell your system to look to ibus when you want to switch input methods.

10. Almost finished! This step is to ensure that all you programs are using ibus. To do this, open the IBus Preferences window as we did in step #3. Go to the Advanced tab and make sure that both boxes are checked.


11. From the same IBus Preferences window, you can set your hotkeys and other options under the General tab.

12. Reboot your computer. 日本語で書けるよ!!