How to map 「英数」 or 「かな」 key common in the JIS layout of Mac keyboards on vim?

Question

Okay, please here me out on this -- this question is not about using these keys.

Macs come with a JIS keyboard layout that has the following keys 「英数」 and 「かな」 that is used to switch between Japanese and English input. (image below)

I would like to use these two keys to toggle between insert, visual, and normal mode. I tried pressing the 英数 and the かな key with Ctr+V in insert mode, but nothing was showing up so I have no clue about what vim sees when these keys are pressed.

Does anyone know how I can map these two keys to visual/insert mode? If not, I would really appreciate some guidance on at least figuring out what vim sees when these two keys are entered.

Answer 1

my recommendation is using Karabiner
https://karabiner-elements.pqrs.org
You can then map those keys to any key you want. The karabiner-eventviewer can help you find the pressed key easily. I had a JIS keyboard and map the 英数 to command so my left thumb does not need to stretch too much. Good luck