Ubuntu--new, improved formula with extra whitening power

The reason I've been absent from this blog lately was due to the fact I wasn't using Ubuntu. While waiting for the LTS release of Ubuntu 10.04 to appear, I migrated over to a different distro. I had previously tried Xubuntu on my laptop and liked it enough to want to continue to find ways to speed up my old laptop. I had heard of Crunchbang before, which was built on Ubuntu, but now their next release is Crunchbang Statler, and it will be built on a Debian base. I also found out that an XFCE version was available. I decided to give it a test drive. I love the simplicity of the desktop and the overall speed of it. I have been using it on my desktop up until this past week, when I decided to do a complete reinstall of both Windows and the new Ubuntu. I'm hoping to pass this laptop over to my daughter who is in desperate need of a better computer--at least better than the one she is currently using.
So far, I'm enjoying the new look and feel of Ubuntu. I've also just completed a system upgrade on my desktop computer from Ubuntu 9.10 to 10.04 and it went smoothly.
I'm currently trying to configure the laptop to accept Japanese input so that my daughter can use it with her studies. I've hit a couple of snags in that department, and since I don't read or write Japanese, it may take a while to figure out.
It very simple to install SCIM and get Anthy working, but she would also love to be able to use Furigana input as well. There is a Furigana injector that can be installed in Firefox as well as a Furigana addon with openoffice. I've installed both, but every option is greyed out in OO and I can't seem to be able to bring up the dictionary either. Not sure how to resolve this issue. Others online are having similar problems. I will probably edit this post with more info as I learn more about this problem.