Type Project released Hama Mincho Italic in 2020.
Although italic is a typeface style less familiar in Japan, it frequently appears in books, dictionaries, etc. in several language areas that use the Latin alphabet, such as English.
The style of Latin alphabet often seen in Japanese sentences is a straight character called regular (upright). In contrast, italic is a character slanted to the right.
Although regular is mainly used in text in books in English-speaking countries, italic is used in the notations of book and work titles, foreign languages, lines of characters, and it plays the role of distinguishing information within sentences. It is similar to Japanese in which katakana is used for borrowed words, and brackets, etc. are used for titles and lines.
Additionally, italic may be used as an ornamental element by itself by utilizing its organic and glamorous design.
(XYZ)