As I use both Windows and Linux, I have the Microsoft IME set up on my Windows 7 partition (quite easy to set up) and Anthy on Linux.
After breaking a few things on my Fedora 17 instance, I reinstalled Fedora yesterday. Since I couldn't remember what I did last time, a little Googline yielded what (or at least what I think is) the guide I used last time.
http://www.localizingjapan.com/blog/2012/06/08/japanese-input-on-fedora-17-linux-beefy-miracle-gnome-3/
Written by Mark Rogoyski, it outlines everything you need to do to be able to enter Japanese text in GNOME3
A few pointers for those who are not familiar with a Japanese IME (which certainly caught me off guard at first) are:
- ん - To enter this symbol, type "nn" rather than "n". This has caused me problems where this character occurs immediately before another character on the n line.
- The IME automatically tried to convert to kanji. Pressing return will keep the hiragana/katakana you're entered. Particularly important if (like me) you don't know kanji
- Remember to switch it off! I've lost track of the number of times I've Googled for a nonsensical set of Japanese characters or typed them in to an IM chat window.
- On Anthy, Ctrl+Space switches between input modes. I've found this to be quite useful when quickly switching between English and Japanese.
So far, Anthy has proven to be a very useful tool.
さよなら！
