Typing in Japanese in GNOME
 

Does anyone know how to type in Japanese, or any language other than default English, in GNOME? I am using CentOS 5.2 and have already installed the proper Japanese fonts and packages. I use default English as my desktop and keyboard. There's some shortcut key to press that brings up a language bar but I can't figure it out. I see it now and then when I play some games in WINE and when I mash the keyboard, but it disappears pretty fast.

This page provides a good explanation of international text support. It's focused on Debian, but the info can be easily applied elsewhere.

Short form, you need to install scim (or uim, if you prefer) and the scim-anthy Japanese backend (or other backends for the languages you want) and set up some shell variables. Then you can activate the IME with shift+space (Edit: actually, I think crtl+space activates the IME, and shift+space cycles through the available languages). This assumes you know the basics of using an IME, of course.