Ubuntu – 16.04 Japanese Text Input not working

16.04inputjapaneselanguagetext;

There were a set of extra steps I needed to take with Ubuntu 14.04 that got Japanese text input working, but the same steps seem to not apply to 16.04. The system toggles between "En" and "Ja", but all it's doing (functionally) is switching from an English keyboard layout to a Japanese keyboard layout. I installed in English with my location in Japan, which triggered Japanese language support (which isn't working). I also tried a clean install in Japanese that installed all menus, etc. in Japanese, but also had non-functional Japanese input, so I did a third install in English again – with Japan as the local – which is where I stand now with it. Any help with this issue greatly appreciated, as I need to be able to input Japanese text.

Best Answer

  1. Open settings to add and remove a language, IBus should be shown as the default option.
  2. Choose to add Japanese, which automatically installs fcitx-mozc.
  3. When it's done, close the language window and reopen it. This time, fcitx will be available as an option, choose it.
  4. Log out, log in, and there should be a small keyboard icon on the upper right.
  5. Click it, and choose configure input method.
  6. Click on the add language button (a small plus button on your bottom-left corner.
  7. Uncheck the option to only show the current language (above the search bar), and type in mozc, which should show up the option mozc - Japanese.
  8. Click OK and you should be able to use Japanese in most applications by hitting ctrl + space
Related Question