I’ve been learning Japanese for the last couple of years. One thing I’ve always wanted to get working is Japanese text input on the Fedora Linux KDE Spin. It turns out, there’s a great Romaji/Hiragana/Kanji keyboard for KDE on Linux, it just takes a little configuring.

Update 7/6/2026: I’ve updated the instructions to include the new Input Method screens.

For Fedora, open Konsole and run:

sudo dnf -y install fcitx5-mozc fcitx5-kkc kcm-fcitx5 fcitx5-autostart

For Kinoite, open Konsole and run the following, then reboot to apply:

sudo rpm-ostree install fcitx5-mozc fcitx5-kkc kcm-fcitx5 fcitx5-autostart

Log out then back in

Open System Settings

Browse to Keyboard->Virtual Keyboard

Choose “Fcitx 5” or “Fcitx5 Wayland Launcher (Experimental)” and click Apply

I’m personally using the Wayland Launcher without any issues.

Right click the Keyboard icon in system tray

Click “Configure” or “Input Method Settings”

For newer versions of KDE Plasma:

Click “Add Input Method”

Search for: mozc

It should come up under Japanese. Select it, then click Add

Click Apply

For older versions of KDE Plasma:

Under Available Input Method search for:

Mozc

Then click “<” to add it to “Current Input Method”

Make sure to leave “Keyboard – English (US)” so that you can switch between the two.

Click “OK”

To switch between English and Mozc, just press Control+Space in any application.

As you type in Romaji, Mozc will convert what you type into Hiragana and Kanji, with select-able options in a pop-up.

Steam note: if you’re using Steam, you may find phantom inputs on certain games with fcitx installed. You can fix this by setting the following launch options:

GTK_IM_MODULE= QT_IM_MODULE= XMODIFIERS= %command%

楽しんで!