Translating
TIP
If you were linked here directly, it is recommended to read the guide from the start.
Now that you better understand the basics of the game's assets and how Hachimi uses them, let's look at how to actually start translating.
Tools
There are a number of different tools available to create and edit translations.
ZokuZoku
Written by the Hachimi developer for Hachimi, this is currently the easiest to get started with, and supports most of Hachimi's formats.
However, it can no longer edit stories after a certain game update and has multiple unsolved bugs and usage issues. It is currently unmaintained.
Check out the ZokuZoku guide.
ZokuZoku Edge
There are multiple forks of ZokuZoku attempting to restore story functionality and maybe adjust some features. These might be unstable, unsupported, and currently have no public releases.
UmaTL Legacy Tools
INFO
An update is on its way to let these support all parts of the game properly, with new features. When complete, this should become the main toolset.
These are part of the earliest game translation patch, and as such don't directly support Hachimi's formats. They are also a bit less user-friendly.
They can however still be used with the aid of a few extra scripts, and are particularly handy for stories, providing more features and a smoother experience.
Check out the UmaTL guide.
Hachimi Tools
This is a small extra toolset focused mainly on dealing with textures and uianimation assets. It also provides some random useful features.
These are quite technical, so they assume the user has sufficient knowledge and only include basic documentation in their readme.
Like ZokuZoku, these are unmaintaned and stopped working after a game update.
Use this maintained fork with fixed support and new features.
Carotene Tools
Part of the older Carotene patch. These are unmaintained and no longer work correctly.
Dealing with specific translations
UI (Localize / Hashed dicts)
Localize is currently only supported by ZokuZoku.
Hashed dicts are not supported by any tools and must be manually edited. You will also require a way of generating the correct hash. This tool is one such way.
You must dump the localize_dict.json file from the game using Hachimi's menu after game updates. Enable translator mode to see the option.
MDB
In most cases you should currently still use ZokuZoku. UmaTL tools are usable if you know what you're doing, and occasionally provide advantages.
Pay attention in text_data, there are many categories and sometimes these are duplicated fully or partially. Combinations also exist.
Dialogue (Story / Race / Lyrics asset dicts)
These are likely the easiest to deal with. They are straight-forward, all tools support audio preview and choice branching (which isn't complex in the vast majority of cases), and there are no real gotchas. Just don't forget to translate the titles.
The game update on 2025/09/24 encrypted both assets and the meta database indexing them. ZokuZoku doesn't support this.
Your best choice is to use Legacy UmaTL tools, which also has a few relevant features not found in other tools.
Textures (incl. Atlases)
Use the special toolset to both extract textures and create the diff.png after editing. Once a diff is created, you can also work from that for game updates by using the tools.
You will need an image editor to edit the images. Take care of the size limitations in game, Hachimi currently doesn't support changing those.
Basic documentation is included with the tools.
UIAnimation
Use the special toolset to extract and update. Basic documentation is included with the tools.
Many of these will only list metadata for their matching textures (see above). Currently, that is the source's asset hash for the protection system.
When these include text, simply edit the text in the extracted file. You can also adjust its size and positioning, which can be extremely useful.
These will extract to either flash or flashcombine. Make sure to check both. You should remove any parts (JSON objects) not edited.
You'll be served well by having a way to check into the meta file (it is an SQLite DB) and browsing or searching for potential asset names. When text is not found anywhere else, it is likely "hidden" in one of these files. Common for some parts of a scenario's UI.
Movies
You are on your own currently. Good luck.
Other considerations
Hachimi works on both Windows and Android. You will need access to an up-to-date Android meta file to generate the hashes for the outdated asset protection system. It is not required for anything else.
You do not need tools at all, of course. Sometimes it is easier to make an edit directly in a .json file. Searching through them can be a handy way to find something as well.