diff --git a/libs/flexlove/modules/FontCache.lua b/libs/flexlove/modules/FontCache.lua
index 7aef441c..99e82d17 100644
--- a/libs/flexlove/modules/FontCache.lua
+++ b/libs/flexlove/modules/FontCache.lua
@@ -107,6 +107,11 @@ function FONT_CACHE.get(size, fontPath)
     font = love.graphics.newFont(size)
   end
 
+  -- Per-glyph fallback so a non-Latin UI string is not drawn as tofu.
+  -- pcall'd require: FlexLove is vendored and must still load standalone.
+  local okUi, UiFont = pcall(require, "src.render.UiFont")
+  if okUi and UiFont then UiFont.attach(font, size) end
+
   -- Add to cache with LRU metadata
   FONT_CACHE[cacheKey] = {
     font = font,
diff --git a/main.lua b/main.lua
index e1937fca..07f98b45 100644
--- a/main.lua
+++ b/main.lua
@@ -313,6 +313,18 @@ function love.load(args)
     return
   end
 
+  -- The launcher draws before any game boots, so the mod loader has not run
+  -- and Strings has no catalog.  Routing the launcher's text through Strings
+  -- (#767) only pays off if something fills that catalog this early, and no
+  -- restart could: the ordering is the same on every launch.  Read the
+  -- enabled mods' string catalogs -- data only, no entry chunk -- so a
+  -- translation reaches the launcher too.  Game:load replaces this with the
+  -- real merged catalog once a version boots.
+  do
+    local preload = require("src.mods.LauncherMods").translationStrings()
+    if preload then require("src.core.Strings").load({ strings = preload }) end
+  end
+
   -- Interactive: the launcher always runs.  Red, Blue, and Yellow are each
   -- live: a column shows Play when that game's ROM is already imported, or
   -- Choose ROM / drag-drop when it is not.  Any dropped .gb is routed by its
diff --git a/src/import/LauncherView.lua b/src/import/LauncherView.lua
index 7a1be91a..10401edf 100644
--- a/src/import/LauncherView.lua
+++ b/src/import/LauncherView.lua
@@ -329,7 +329,9 @@ local function mfont(size)
   size = math.max(8, math.floor(size + 0.5))
   local f = measureFonts[size]
   if not f then
-    f = love.graphics.newFont(size)
+    -- same fallback the rendering faces get (FlexLove FontCache), or the
+    -- launcher measures Latin widths for text it draws with kana
+    f = require("src.render.UiFont").attach(love.graphics.newFont(size), size)
     measureFonts[size] = f
   end
   return f
diff --git a/src/mods/LauncherMods.lua b/src/mods/LauncherMods.lua
index 2091af91..bc6b7626 100644
--- a/src/mods/LauncherMods.lua
+++ b/src/mods/LauncherMods.lua
@@ -254,6 +254,80 @@ function LauncherMods.list()
   return result or {}
 end
 
+-- ------- pre-boot translation strings
+--
+-- The launcher draws before Game:load, so the loader has not run and Strings
+-- has no catalog.  #767/#791 routed the launcher's text through Strings, but
+-- nothing filled the catalog this early, so a translation mod still could not
+-- reach the launcher however complete it was -- and no restart helped, because
+-- the ordering is the same on every launch.
+--
+-- This fills it, and deliberately does the smallest thing that can: one
+-- declarative file per enabled mod, lang/strings.lua, and never the entry
+-- chunk.  That keeps the promise the rest of this module is built on -- no mod
+-- behaviour runs before the game boots -- because a catalog is data.
+--
+-- It is still a mod-authored chunk, so it runs with an empty environment: a
+-- plain `return { ... }` evaluates fine, while anything reaching for love, io
+-- or os raises and is skipped rather than being trusted this early.
+--
+-- Game:load calls Strings.load(Data) again after the real merge, which
+-- replaces whatever this installed, so the two never disagree for long.
+local STRINGS_CATALOG = "lang/strings.lua"
+
+local function readStringsCatalog(path)
+  local fs = love and love.filesystem
+  if not (fs and fs.read) then return nil end
+  local rel = path .. "/" .. STRINGS_CATALOG
+  local raw = fs.read(rel)
+  if type(raw) ~= "string" or raw == "" then return nil end
+  local chunk = loadstring(raw, "@" .. rel)
+  if not chunk then return nil end
+  -- Lua 5.1/LuaJIT: no _ENV, so setfenv is the sandbox.
+  if setfenv then setfenv(chunk, {}) end
+  local ok, result = pcall(chunk)
+  if not ok or type(result) ~= "table" then return nil end
+  return result
+end
+
+-- deriveStrings(rows, byId, read) -> the merged catalog, pure.
+-- rows is deriveList's output, byId the id -> manifest map, and read(path) a
+-- reader returning that mod's catalog table (or nil).  Split out so the engine
+-- tier can table-drive the enable/precedence rules with no filesystem.
+function LauncherMods.deriveStrings(rows, byId, read)
+  local out, any = {}, false
+  for _, row in ipairs(rows or {}) do
+    local manifest = row.enabled and byId and byId[row.id] or nil
+    local catalog = manifest and manifest.path and read(manifest.path)
+    for source, value in pairs(catalog or {}) do
+      -- an empty value means "not translated yet", never "translate to
+      -- blank" -- the same rule the mod's own loader applies
+      if type(source) == "string" and type(value) == "string"
+          and value ~= "" then
+        out[source] = value
+        any = true
+      end
+    end
+  end
+  return any and out or nil
+end
+
+-- translationStrings() -> a source -> translation map for the launcher, or nil
+-- when no enabled mod ships one.  Enable-state and ordering are deriveList's,
+-- so a mod that wins a key here wins it at boot too.
+function LauncherMods.translationStrings()
+  local ok, merged = pcall(function()
+    local manifests = discover()
+    if #manifests == 0 then return nil end
+    local rows = LauncherMods.deriveList(manifests, SaveData.loadOptions())
+    local byId = {}
+    for _, m in ipairs(manifests) do byId[m.id] = m end
+    return LauncherMods.deriveStrings(rows, byId, readStringsCatalog)
+  end)
+  if not ok then return nil end
+  return merged
+end
+
 -- setEnabled(id, enabled): persist options.mods[id] in the exact shape
 -- Loader:_saveState writes (a plain boolean), so the running game and the
 -- in-game ManagerState pick it up unchanged.
diff --git a/src/render/UiFont.lua b/src/render/UiFont.lua
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b0ec5f03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/render/UiFont.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+-- Per-glyph fallback for the launcher's UI faces.
+--
+-- The launcher draws with LÖVE's default face, which covers Latin and little
+-- else.  That was invisible while the launcher was English-only, but its text
+-- now goes through Strings (#767/#791) and a translation mod's catalog is
+-- loaded before the first launcher frame (LauncherMods.translationStrings), so
+-- the moment one is Japanese every kana lands as a tofu box.
+--
+-- Font:setFallbacks fills ONLY the codepoints the primary face is missing, so
+-- Latin keeps the launcher's own look and nothing about an English install
+-- changes; only the glyphs it genuinely cannot draw come from the bundled
+-- Plain Pixel (assets/fonts/plainpixel/README.md: CC-BY 4.0, Douglas
+-- Vautour), which covers kana and CJK.  That is the same face the in-game TTF
+-- text mode uses, so a translated launcher and a translated game agree.
+--
+-- Measuring and rendering must attach the same fallback or the launcher
+-- measures a width it does not draw -- which is how buttons clip.
+
+local UiFont = {}
+
+local FALLBACK_PATH = "assets/fonts/plainpixel/PlainPixel-Regular.ttf"
+-- Plain Pixel only rasterizes evenly at multiples of its 15px design em, so
+-- snap rather than matching the primary size exactly: a fallback glyph a pixel
+-- off its grid is far more obvious than one a pixel off its neighbours.
+local DESIGN_EM = 15
+
+local cache = {}
+local unavailable = false
+
+local function fallbackFor(size)
+  if unavailable then return nil end
+  local snapped = math.max(DESIGN_EM,
+    math.floor(size / DESIGN_EM + 0.5) * DESIGN_EM)
+  local hit = cache[snapped]
+  if hit ~= nil then return hit or nil end
+  local ok, font = pcall(love.graphics.newFont, FALLBACK_PATH, snapped)
+  if not ok or not font then
+    -- one failure means the file is absent (a trimmed build); stop retrying
+    unavailable = true
+    return nil
+  end
+  if font.setFilter then pcall(font.setFilter, font, "nearest", "nearest") end
+  cache[snapped] = font
+  return font
+end
+
+-- attach(font, size) -> font.  Safe to call on every cache miss; a font whose
+-- fallback is already set is left alone, and any failure is swallowed so a
+-- missing fallback file can never take the launcher down with it.
+function UiFont.attach(font, size)
+  if not (font and font.setFallbacks) then return font end
+  local fallback = fallbackFor(size or (font.getHeight and font:getHeight()) or DESIGN_EM)
+  if not fallback or rawequal(fallback, font) then return font end
+  pcall(font.setFallbacks, font, fallback)
+  return font
+end
+
+function UiFont.clear()
+  cache, unavailable = {}, false
+end
+
+return UiFont
diff --git a/tests/engine/launcher_mods_tests.lua b/tests/engine/launcher_mods_tests.lua
index 02118482..368d6a07 100644
--- a/tests/engine/launcher_mods_tests.lua
+++ b/tests/engine/launcher_mods_tests.lua
@@ -328,4 +328,47 @@ do
   eq(bad.name, "abc", "surrogates and overlongs are dropped")
 end
 
+-- ------- pre-boot translation strings (deriveStrings)
+--
+-- The launcher draws before Game:load, so a translation mod's catalog has to
+-- reach Strings without the loader running.  These are the rules that decide
+-- what it may contribute, with the filesystem read injected.
+do
+  local manifests = {
+    { id = "aaa", name = "A", version = "1.0.0", path = "mods/aaa" },
+    { id = "zzz", name = "Z", version = "1.0.0", path = "mods/zzz" },
+  }
+  local catalogs = {
+    ["mods/aaa"] = { ["Import ROM"] = "A-rom", ["Delete"] = "A-del",
+                     ["Cancel"] = "" },
+    ["mods/zzz"] = { ["Import ROM"] = "Z-rom" },
+  }
+  local function read(path) return catalogs[path] end
+  local function byIdMap(ms)
+    local m = {}
+    for _, x in ipairs(ms) do m[x.id] = x end
+    return m
+  end
+
+  local rows = LauncherMods.deriveList(manifests, { mods = {} })
+  local merged = LauncherMods.deriveStrings(rows, byIdMap(manifests), read)
+  eq(merged["Delete"], "A-del", "an enabled mod contributes its catalog")
+  eq(merged["Import ROM"], "Z-rom",
+    "later id wins a shared key, as it would at boot")
+  eq(merged["Cancel"], nil,
+    "an empty value is untranslated, never a blank translation")
+
+  local offRows = LauncherMods.deriveList(manifests, { mods = { zzz = false } })
+  local off = LauncherMods.deriveStrings(offRows, byIdMap(manifests), read)
+  eq(off["Import ROM"], "A-rom", "a disabled mod contributes nothing")
+
+  local none = LauncherMods.deriveStrings(
+    LauncherMods.deriveList(manifests, { mods = { aaa = false, zzz = false } }),
+    byIdMap(manifests), read)
+  eq(none, nil, "no enabled catalog leaves the launcher on its English source")
+
+  eq(LauncherMods.deriveStrings(rows, byIdMap(manifests), function() return nil end),
+    nil, "a mod that ships no catalog is skipped, not an error")
+end
+
 T.finish("launcher_mods")