Kanji Creation and Radicals 03 “Difference in Creation”

When the characters of “之繞” (shin-nyou) are typed in a font, there is a group with one dot for shin-nyou, such as “近, 送,通,” and another group with two dots for shin-nyo, such as “迚, 遙, 迴.” Furthermore, in the characters in shimesu-hen, there are two types: the “示” shape, such as “祁, 祇, 禰,” etc., and the “ネ” shape, such as “社, 祝, 福.” As described, there may be multiple variations in one radical. Depending on the character set, characters of both types are created. For the second type, the creation is made with a sense of deja vu in the meaning of kanji.

While in the process of the kanji-related standard being created and updated, reorganization of type occurs. Currently, the previously mentioned character set is used. At the time of handwriting and creating logotype, the standard changes and the degree of freedom increases. Furthermore, there are fixed radicals with a different type used respectively by region in countries where kanji is used. Therefore, in actuality, it is not uncommon to have much more variations for one radical.

(担当T)

Series archive Japanese Type Design / Kanji Creation and Radicals