# Japanese IME not working **URL:** \ **Category:** Bazzite\ **Created:** [September 16, 2024, 4:43am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/japanese-ime-not-working/4080 "2024-09-16T04:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jonnypanic](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/jonnypanic/32/3406_2.png) [@Jonnypanic](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/Jonnypanic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 4:43am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/japanese-ime-not-working/4080/1 "2024-09-16T04:43:36Z")
Hi all. I’m a Linux noob, so apologies if there is an obvious answer to this question. I’m trying to install Japanese language IME to Bazzite. So far I have Fcitx 5 installed, with Mozc for Fcitx 5 from Discover. Fcitx shows up on the taskbar, and the menus work. I can add Japanese input to the list, but so far I can’t get Japanese input to actually work. It shows up as JP on the taskbar, but no clear way to change to hiragana/katakana/kanji. If anyone knows the answer, please let me know. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![s31bz](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/s31bz/32/1509_2.png) [@s31bz](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/s31bz)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/japanese-ime-not-working/4080/2 "2024-09-16T15:14:17Z")
Hi there! I haven’t tried this on my Steam Machine I built with Bazzite in mind yet, but I’ll see if I can help out here as I type in Japanese to my best friend occasionally. If you hit the super/windows key on your keyboard and go to keyboard shortcuts, is there a shortcut set for specifically switching between Japanese mozc and English? ---
**Author:** ![Jonnypanic](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/jonnypanic/32/3406_2.png) [@Jonnypanic](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/Jonnypanic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 8:00am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/japanese-ime-not-working/4080/3 "2024-09-17T08:00:13Z")
Hi! Thanks for the reply. Do you mean on the Keyboard \> Shortcuts section of the System Settings menu? I haven’t got a shortcut set there. But I do have one set up in Fcitx that shows switching between JP and EN, but when I type, there’s no Japanese output. So do I have to add one to Shortcuts? ---
**Author:** ![mel226](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/mel226/32/1577_2.png) [@mel226](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/mel226)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 1:21pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/japanese-ime-not-working/4080/4 "2024-09-17T13:21:42Z")
Hi there! I did a quick search on the Bazzite github and found this issue. A comment suggested that you may have to set Fcitx5 to autostart (I believe you can refer to the [Fcitx5 documentation](https://fcitx-im.org/wiki/Setup_Fcitx_5#XDG_Autostart) on this). > > > \### Describe the package > > Spoke with Kyle Gospo in the discord chat here https:/…/discord.com/channels/1072614816579063828/1087140957096517672/1247284216467685518 and told me to post this https://paste.centos.org/view/178ef822. > > Essentially without "mozc" and "fcitx5" I was unable to type hiragana and get kanji via the IME keyboard as you would on windows (you have like 2 main alphabets hiragana and katakana. Kanji is like a group of hiragana combined when you type to make a character/kanji). I am unsure which specific packages worked hence why Kyle told me to post what he asked me to post but I know it relates to the 2 names I put into quotes. > > Sorry if I explained terribly and you may need to google hiragana chart just to see what I mean when you try it on your end. System settings would only allow romaji (latin letters system if you like) and katakana. > > \### Image > > Desktop It’s been about 2 years since I last used Fcitx5, so I don’t remember much, but could it be that you have to switch between character modes first? For example, I’m using ibus with Anthy and while I can switch using the system tray menu, I can also do it using my preferred shortcut of Ctrl+`\`. That is also the case with ibus with Mozc. Plus, Mozc assigns character-switching to the special JIS keys that don’t exist in US-ANSI keyboards (Eisu, Muhenkan, Henkan, Kana…), which is potentially why it’s not working for you. ---
**Author:** ![Jonnypanic](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/jonnypanic/32/3406_2.png) [@Jonnypanic](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/Jonnypanic)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 4:20am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/japanese-ime-not-working/4080/5 "2024-09-18T04:20:05Z")
Hi! Thanks for that. That does seem to be the problem, I have no way to switch character modes. The shortcuts I have found online don’t seem to work, I’m not sure what the correct mozc shortcuts are supposed to be. I’m using a Japanese keyboard. Is ibus preferable to Fcitx5? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Jonnypanic](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/jonnypanic/32/3406_2.png) [@Jonnypanic](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/Jonnypanic)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 4:28am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/japanese-ime-not-working/4080/6 "2024-09-18T04:28:01Z")
So, I switched to Ibus and Anthy, and it worked instantly. So I guess I’ll just use that. Not sure why I didn’t just try that in the first place… Thank you again for pointing me in the right direction. ---
**Author:** ![mel226](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/mel226/32/1577_2.png) [@mel226](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/mel226)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 8:10am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/japanese-ime-not-working/4080/7 "2024-09-18T08:10:59Z")
The problem with Ibus is that input switching doesn’t work under Electron apps and Chromium browsers running native Wayland (yet, IIRC it _might_ change in the fairly near future but who knows), so you can only type using the Latin alphabet despite having the input mode set to Kana. To me it doesn’t really matter because I mainly use Firefox and can copy-paste non-Latin into Discord, for example, but it might be a major inconvenience for you. This is where Fcitx5 is advantageous, as it actually works with Electron/Chromium on native Wayland: > [@Aurora IBus Wayland doesn't work in Chrome](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/aurora-ibus-wayland-doesnt-work-in-chrome/3432): > > After installing Aurora, I installed IBus Wayland through Settings → Keyboard → Virtual Keyboard. After rebooting, IBus works fine in Libre Office and Firefox but doesn’t work within Chrome (flatpak). Anyone else seen that? Maybe there’s an extra flatpak permission I need to give to Chrome? For the shortcuts, well, you’ll have to look for Mozc settings first, then configure the IME shortcuts yourself. This is how it looks like when accessed from GNOME Settings → Keyboard → Japanese (Mozc) → Preferences: ![2024-09-18_14-49](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/univeral_blue/original/2X/a/afcc3a323cdd662945c9a0f8e2005ebb5cb0e067.webp) I ended up mapping the special keys as layers for Home/End/PgDn/PgUp on my keyboard to not mess so much with the default Mozc keys, but it’s still way less convenient than Anthy that has the `on_off` and `circle_kana_mode`, which is why I prefer Anthy to Mozc (still have it installed for testing purposes). At the end of the day the choice of Ibus+Anthy or Fcitx5+Mozc depends if you value convenience or need to type Japanese in Wayland Electron/Chromium. Plus I’m pretty sure `fcitx5-anthy` is a thing on Fedora repos, so if you want full Wayland compatibility _and_ convenience you might want to try layering it and see how it works (only if it’s not already installed by default, of course). ---
**Author:** ![s31bz](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/s31bz/32/1509_2.png) [@s31bz](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/s31bz)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/japanese-ime-not-working/4080/8 "2024-09-19T05:13:21Z")
Glad to hear this worked out, thanks for mentioning it. I’ll do that on my steam machine now as well. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/univeral_blue/original/2X/e/e39f7d1952979cf23b0f8d634e025fb38da50026.png) [@system](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/japanese-ime-not-working/4080/9 "2024-09-20T05:13:35Z")
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