Normally, I would install Scim and Anthy for Japanese input method on Debian. Recently, I found an easier way to achieve the same thing, which is to use IBus instead of Scim.

  1. Install ibus: sudo apt-get install ibus ibus-anthy ibus-gtk
  2. From the menu, System -> Preferences -> IBus Preference. IBus Preference should detects that you have run IBus daemon yet, click “Yes” to run it.
  3. You’ll be asked to edit your ~/.bashrc and add the following 3 lines:
export GTK_IM_MODULE=ibus
export XMODIFIERS=@im=ibus
export QT_IM_MODULE=ibus</pre>
  1. Click on “Input Method” tab, if you don’t see “Japanese – Anthy” listed under the Input Method list, select “Japanese -> Anthy” from the “Select an input method” drop down list, then click Add.
  2. You might want to restart X (logout and log back in)
  3. Open a text editor, and hit Ctrl + Space to toggle the Japanese input method

Reference: Japanese Input with Karmic?