In Windows 7, by installing the language input "Japanese - Microsoft IME", I can type in latin characters which will automatically change into hiragana (and kanji/katakana if I hit the space bar).
Much like a T9.

I'd like to have the same functionality on my Raspberry Pi 4 mounting the latest distro of Ubuntu (Groovy Gorilla).
It'd be very useful for a Japanese language course I'm attending.

I've found several tuts and forum threads by googling, but, while some were just utterly confusing, most seemed patently obsolete.

Is it possible at all?
If so, how?


Thank you.


[EDIT] ~ SOLVED
In the software manager of Ubuntu I've found "Anthy", which is a Japanese language input add-on.
Once installed, log off and then back on.
At that point, if I remember correctly, you'll find it already installed in the input sources list as "Japanese (Anhy)". Or maybe you still have to add it from the list and it appears among the "Japanese" inputs?
Anyway, it's quite simple to get to work, and it has the same mechanics as Microsoft IME.

What OS is the Pi on? If Ubuntu - you're on your own. From the top of my head, you could try . Man apt if that doesn't work.

If you stick with RPi OS (= Debian), they're probably further along in support software, esp. on 32bit. If you're doing much Japanese, you should set up a Japanese user with Japanese Locale and invest in a Japanese keyboard. It works, you know.

You should even be able to have one X session in English (on, say, Alt_F7) and another in Japanese (on, say Alt_F8) and just maybe copy/paste between them? It would be worth trying, as reboots are cheap.

Perhaps this helps: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/JapaneseInput. Disclaimer: This page covers Ubuntu 18, and I have not tried it.

Thanks both of you, but I've actually found a solution on my own, in the meanwhile.

From the software manager in Ubuntu I found "Anthy", which is a Japanese language input add-on. It works pretty much the same way as Microsoft IME. So much that it looks like a copy/paste, actually.

Unfortunately, @berndbausch 's solution was one of the confusing/obsolete ones I had already found, as it doesn't seem to apply to the latest release of Ubuntu (Groovy Gorilla).

Also, @business_kid, I don't get why I'm on my own. It might be an ARM based version, but it's still the same Ubuntu release as the Intel/AMD ones. Same interface, tools and contents. I presume.
Except, reboots ain't as *cheap*, because obviously it's an ARM and its speed is what it is. ^^'

Don't you hate these nutty names for Ubuntu releases? That's why I always sought alternatives to Ubuntu. Fortunately, there are plenty.

I'm stuck with a Raspberry Pi 4, at the moment, thus my range of possible choices ain't as varied as yours. ^^'

But a silly name for the operative system is the last of my concerns, when picking one.

That's ridiculous too, but in fact it'd Debian Buster, with a bit of fruit added. I don't like Buster either, but I can live with it. I've seen that OS shortened to RPi OS. I use it myself. Pity the Pi OS forums are so poor.

I guess Pi dedicated forums are *poor* because those who pick such a machine to work with are either people who're trying to set up a cheap solution with pre-made tools (Pi 4 and OS mods like LibreELEC), or people who are tech/electronics-savvy and perfectly capable both with code and PCBs.
They both rarely need some help with unusual/undocumented things.

Then there's a third kind, the IT savvy who wants to explore and moderately experiment with new stuff.
That's where I lurk, basing my experiments on pre-made tools while trying to implement unusual applications.
And we're not as many as we'd need.

But hey, now I can type in hiragana/katakana/kanji while using roman characters on a western keyboard.

I was an electronics hardware head, and relatively IT savvy.

But there came a point after 2000 when design moved primarily out of replaceable parts and into special purpose (=irreplaceable) parts. Stock of ICs declined and dried up, suppliers closed as specific parts exploded in ASICs or FPGAs with contract fab.It was curtains for my business. So I'm like the cooper who made wooden barrels - all skilled, but obsolete.

It's good you're going, and doing those scripts. Do you speak those languages?

Sorry for the (veeeerrrryyy) late reply, got out of touch with some of my secondary mail addresses.

I'm studying Japanese, indeed, but I'm still a beginner.
And the fact that the course I was following is still on hold because of the virus ain't helping.
At the moment I'm using Duolingo, which is both a very clever and very frustrating way to learn the language. And also a course on PDF meant just for self-study which, obviously and unfortunately, is not sync'd with Duolingo.
I'll let you guess the amount of confusion.

So, you see, I'm doing what I can with what I have. Interested in learning the language? I'd gladly pick up a fellow student, confronting each other's doubts helps a lot.

If your language study is stalled you can get one-on-one lessons or zoom tuition online. A lot of people I know do it over zoom or on Skype.

It sounds like you need a serious multiplicity of keyboards. Personally, I'd probably go with 1 luser per language. Certainly for Japanese. Are the Pashto/Persian ones close enough alphabet wise?

Online lessons might even sound like a viable solution, if I hadn't already paid in advance for the next session of the course... ^^'
And, certainly, given my level with the English language, I could even try with Japanese/English teachers.

Anyway no, there's no need for secondary keyboards. At least not for the Japanese language.
It relies on very simple sounds, syllables. With the appropriate language input entry, any latin-characters keyboard does the trick, the software does all the job of transcribing the latin characters into Japanese ones, even Kanji.
On Windows you can very easily switch between the two by pressing Alt+Shift, and a similar combo works for Ubuntu.

And no, nothing's more different than Persian and Japanese alphabets.

I know. I do more than a little on jw.org, which is in 1028 languages! Japanese is a similar form of alphabet to Chinese/Korean, whereas Persian is more similar to Arabic. I wouldn't say they are the same, but similar. It was Persian & Pashto I thought might be similar. Anyhow, this is going Way OT. There's a windows utility (something-sword, or sword-something) which does chinese by 'pin-ying' (the phoenetic sounds). I ran it painlessly under wine. Does it help with Japanese?

You said a lot of things, so now I'm not sure what you're asking me about.... ^^'
Anyway, as I said in the solution, I'm using an app from the rep of Ubuntu that works pretty much like a normal keyboard layout, except it has a T9-like function that tranforms syllables into hiragana/katakana and kanji just by hitting the space bar.