pykakasi

library2.3.0pypypi✓ verified 26d ago

pykakasi is a Python Natural Language Processing (NLP) library that transliterates Japanese text (hiragana, katakana, and kanji) into rōmaji (Latin/Roman alphabet). It supports NFC-normalized characters and is based on the C-language kakasi library. The current version is 2.3.0, and while there isn't a strict release cadence, updates are made as needed.

ai-ml

pip install pykakasi

package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · PYKAKASI

pykakasi

ai-mlpythonv2.3.0

Install

2.2s avg

Import

320ms

Disk

26MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v2.3.0 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.330s · 28.3MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 2.2s · import 0.310s · 29MB

26MB installed

● package 26MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

kakasi

✓ from pykakasi import kakasi

✗ from pykakasi import kakasi, wakati; k = kakasi(); k.setMode(...); conv = k.getConverter()

The `setMode()`, `getConverter()`, and `do()` methods (old API) are deprecated and will be removed in v3.0. Use the `kakasi().convert()` method for modern usage.

Initializes the kakasi converter and demonstrates both the deprecated (v1.x) and the recommended (v2.x) API for converting Japanese text into romaji, hiragana, and katakana. The new API offers a more streamlined `convert()` method.

import pykakasi kks = pykakasi.kakasi() text = "かな漢字交じり文" # Configure conversion modes (optional, defaults to Hepburn romaji, no spaces) kks.setMode('H', 'a') # Hiragana to romaji kks.setMode('K', 'a') # Katakana to romaji kks.setMode('J', 'a') # Kanji to romaji kks.setMode('r', 'Hepburn') # Use Hepburn Romanization kks.setMode('s', True) # Add spaces kks.setMode('C', True) # Capitalize converter = kks.getConverter() result_old_api = converter.do(text) print(f"Old API result: {result_old_api}") # Recommended new API (v2.0.0+) result_new_api = pykakasi.kakasi().convert(text) print("\nNew API result (default modes):") for item in result_new_api: print(f"Original: {item['orig']}, Kana: {item['kana']}, Hiragana: {item['hira']}, Romaji: {item['hepburn']}")

pykakasi --version

Debug

Known issues

deprecatedThe old API methods (`setMode()`, `getConverter()`, `do()`, and the `wakati` class) are deprecated in pykakasi v2.1.0 and will be removed entirely in v3.0. Migrate to the `kakasi().convert()` method for future compatibility.

fix

Rewrite code using `kakasi().convert(text)` for conversion. For custom options, `kakasi` can be configured before calling `convert` or by passing a dictionary of options to its constructor (refer to official docs for full options).

affects: >=2.1.0

gotchapykakasi is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (GPLv3+). This license has implications for commercial use, potentially requiring source code disclosure if the library is incorporated into proprietary software.

fix

Review your project's licensing requirements. If GPLv3+ is incompatible, consider alternative Japanese romanization libraries with more permissive licenses (e.g., MIT or BSD).

affects: All versions

gotchaThe library primarily expects Unicode characters in Normalization Form C (NFC). Using text in Normalization Form D (NFD) might lead to incorrect or unexpected conversion results due to separated diacritics.

fix

Ensure input text is normalized to NFC before processing with pykakasi, e.g., using `unicodedata.normalize('NFC', text)`.

affects: All versions

gotchaThe original GitHub repository (miurahr/pykakasi) was archived in July 2022 and now points to Codeberg. Users looking for the official source or contributing should refer to the Codeberg repository.

fix

Use `https://codeberg.org/miurahr/pykakasi` as the primary source for the project, documentation, and issue tracking.

affects: All versions

gotchaAccording to some analyses (e.g., Snyk report mentioned in a blog post), the project's maintenance status has been rated as 'Inactive,' despite its continued widespread usage. This might indicate slower response times for issues or new feature development.

fix

Be aware of the potential for slower maintenance. For mission-critical applications requiring active development or immediate support, evaluate the project's current activity or consider alternatives.

affects: All versions

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pykakasi'

The pykakasi library is not installed in your Python environment or your Python interpreter cannot find it.

fix

Install the library using pip: `pip install pykakasi` or `conda install -c conda-forge pykakasi` if using Anaconda/Miniconda.

TypeError: 'module' object is not callable

This error occurs when you try to call the `pykakasi` module itself as a function, instead of instantiating the `kakasi` class within the module.

fix

Correctly instantiate the `kakasi` class: `import pykakasi; kks = pykakasi.kakasi()`

AttributeError: 'kakasi' object has no attribute 'setMode'

You are using deprecated API methods (`setMode()`, `getConverter()`, `do()`) that were part of pykakasi v1.2. These methods are deprecated in v2.1.0 and will be removed in v3.0, leading to this error if used in newer versions of the library.

fix

Migrate your code to use the modern API, specifically the `kakasi().convert(text)` method for transliteration. For example: `import pykakasi; kks = pykakasi.kakasi(); result = kks.convert(text)`

ImportError: No module named nose

This error typically occurs during the installation process (`pip install pykakasi`) in older Python environments, often when `nose` (a testing framework dependency for pykakasi's setup.py) is not installed.

fix

Ensure you have a modern Python environment (Python 3.8+ is officially supported by pykakasi v2.3.0). If the issue persists, try installing `nose` separately before installing pykakasi: `pip install nose` or consider upgrading pip itself. Alternatively, installing from a reliable package manager like conda-forge (`conda install -c conda-forge pykakasi`) might resolve dependency issues.

Upgrade

Version history

2.3.0latest on PyPI · released Jun 24, 2024

Audit

Dependencies

kleptorequiredProvides a mapping database for the library's functionality.

Agent activity

11 hits · last 30 days

node

Amazon

OpenAI (training)

Resources

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/pykakasi/ ↗