Kyujify - Japanese Character Converter

Convert between modern Shinjitai (新字体) and historical Kyūjitai (旧字体) Japanese characters directly in VS Code.

Features

• ➡️ Bidirectional conversion between Shinjitai and Kyūjitai
• 🎯 Convert selections or entire documents
• 🛡️ Exclusion list for protected characters/words
• ✨ Line-specific conversion using prefix symbols
• 🔁 Variant cycling command for grouped forms (e.g. 闘 ↔ 鬥 ↔ 鬪 ↔ 鬬)
• 🈺 Kakikae (代用語) command for controlled, word-specific substitutions
• 📥 450+ built-in character pairs (source)
• 📦 Custom pair/variant/kakikae overrides support via JSON

Installation

1. Open Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X)
2. Search for "Kyujify"
3. Click Install
4. Reload VS Code

Usage

Basic Conversion:

• Right-click menu: "Convert to Kyūjitai" / "Convert to Shinjitai"
• Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):
  • Kyujify: Convert to Kyūjitai
  • Kyujify: Convert to Shinjitai
• Keyboard shortcuts (configure in settings)

Variant Cycling

Use when multiple traditional/variant forms exist and you want to cycle through them interactively.

• Command Palette:
  • Kyujify: Cycle Variants
• Behavior:
  • If text is selected: only the selection is cycled.
  • If nothing is selected: the entire document is cycled.
  • Each Kanji belonging to a variant group is replaced with the “next” one in its group (cyclic).
• Default variant groups are defined in ./data/default_variants.json, for example:
  • ["闘","鬥","鬪","鬬"]
• This command does NOT change Shinjitai/Kyūjitai mappings and is independent from basic conversion.

Kakikae (代用語) Conversion

Implements controlled 同音の漢字による書きかえ / 代用語 behavior: only specific words are rewritten from older forms to chosen modern forms.

• Command Palette:
  • Kyujify: Apply Kakikae
• Behavior:
  • If text is selected: applies kakikae only to the selection.
  • If nothing is selected: applies to the entire document.
  • Uses explicit rules of the form:
    • {"new": "亜", "old": ["堊"], "words": ["白亜"]}
  • For example (with the default rules):
    • 白堊 → 白亜
    • 諳記 → 暗記
• Scope and safety:
  • Rules are word-specific; there is no blanket character-wide replacement.
  • kyujify.exclusions are respected so protected words are not rewritten.

Selection Rules:

• Converts entire document when no text is selected
• Converts only selection when text is highlighted

Configuration

This extension contributes the following settings:

• kyujify.conversionPairsFile
  • Path to the JSON file containing Shinjitai–Kyūjitai pairs.
  • Default: ./data/default_pairs.json
• kyujify.variantsFile
  • Path to the JSON file containing variant cycles.
  • Format: array of arrays, e.g. [["闘","鬥","鬪","鬬"], ["広","廣"]]
  • Used by Kyujify: Cycle Variants.
  • Default: ./data/default_variants.json
• kyujify.kakikaeFile
  • Path to the JSON file containing kakikae (代用語) rules.
  • Format: array of objects:
    • {"new": "亜", "old": ["堊"], "words": ["白亜"]}
  • Used by Kyujify: Apply Kakikae.
  • Default: ./data/default_kakikae.json
• kyujify.lineStartSymbol
  • Symbol that indicates a line should be converted.
  • When non-empty, only lines starting with this symbol are processed by basic conversion commands.
• kyujify.exclusions
  • List of words to exclude from all conversions (including kakikae).
  • Example: ["欠缺"]

Conversion Data

Default conversion pairs are based on DrTurnon/kyujipy's kyujitai_simplified list (MIT licensed). Structure matches the original CSON format:

Shinjitai ↔ Kyūjitai Pairs

Default conversion pairs are based on DrTurnon/kyujipy's kyujitai_simplified list (MIT licensed). Structure matches the original CSON-style list:

[
  ["亜", "亞"],
  ["悪", "惡"],
  ["圧", "壓"],
  ["囲", "圍"]
]

Variant Cycles

Variant cycles are defined in ./data/default_variants.json as arrays of related forms:

[
  ["闘", "鬥", "鬪", "鬬"],
]

These are used only by Kyujify: Cycle Variants to rotate between forms. They do not affect basic Kyūjitai/Shinjitai conversion.

Kakikae (代用語) Rules

Kakikae rules are defined in ./data/default_kakikae.json as objects:

[
  {
    "new": "亜",
    "old": ["堊"],
    "words": ["白亜"]
  },
  {
    "new": "暗",
    "old": ["諳"],
    "words": ["暗記", "暗唱", "暗譜", "暗算"]
  }
]

Semantics:

• Only listed words are targeted.
• Any matching old-form variant of those words is rewritten to use new.
• This reflects 「代用語とは、特定の熟語に限って書き換えるものである。」and avoids global character substitutions.

Advanced Usage

Line-Specific Conversion:

Prefix lines with your symbol to convert only those lines:

> 聖アレキセイ寺院の殺人事件に法水が解決を公表しなかつたので、そろ〱迷宮入りの噂が立ちはじめた十日目のこと、その日から搜査關係の主腦部は、ラザレフ殺害者の追求を放棄しなければならなくなつた。 (converted)
この書き出しから始まる『黒死館殺人事件』は、小栗虫太郎による長編探偵小説であり、日本探偵小説の「三大奇書」の一つとも称される。 (unconverted)

Exclusion Protection:

Preserve specific combinations during conversion:

// kyujify.exclusions = ["欠缺"]
欠缺 -> remains 欠缺 (instead of 欠欠 or 缺缺)

Release Notes

1.0.0

Initial release

2.0.0

Added

• Cycle through action for variants
• Support for kakikae conversion

License

MIT (Conversion data derived from kyujipy by DrTurnon, MIT licensed)