• EN
  • JP

Japanese Type Design

25.04.28SeriesJapanese Type Design / Japanese Yakumono (Punctuation Marks and Symbols)

Japanese Yakumono (Punctuation Marks and Symbols) 05: “Symbols”

Collected symbols, such as circles, triangles, square figures, weather marks, etc., vary depending on the font set. It is a point to show the figures in visually the same size, not to arrang…

25.04.07SeriesJapanese Type Design / Japanese Yakumono (Punctuation Marks and Symbols)

Japanese Yakumono (Punctuation Marks and Symbols) 04: “Arrow”

Similar to the previously-mentioned parentheses, there are several types of arrows. Depending on the arrow, each glyph must be prepared up and down, left and right. Using the same shape for …

25.03.10SeriesJapanese Type Design / Japanese Yakumono (Punctuation Marks and Symbols)

Japanese Yakumono (Punctuation Marks and Symbols) 03: “Parentheses”

I would like to talk about convoluted parentheses this time. In addition to having several types, such as parentheses “()” and square brackets “「」,” there are open and closed versions of eac…

25.02.10SeriesJapanese Type Design / Japanese Yakumono (Punctuation Marks and Symbols)

Japanese Yakumono (Punctuation Marks and Symbols) 02: “Macron and Iteration Mark”

Here, we discuss the macron and iteration mark. Although the macron (“ー”) looks like a simple straight line, it must be designed in accordance with each font. As there are differences in cre…

25.01.20SeriesJapanese Type Design / Japanese Yakumono (Punctuation Marks and Symbols)

Japanese Yakumono (Punctuation Marks and Symbols) 01: “Punctuation Mark”

Japanese yakumono (punctuation marks and symbols) is a generic term for symbols (punctuation marks, parentheses, etc.) apart from words and numbers used in typesetting. In this series, I wou…

24.11.25SeriesJapanese Type Design / Surprisingly Many Kana System Glyphs

Surprisingly Many Kana System Glyphs 04: “There are Many More”

The glyphs collected in StdN have been introduced in this series to this point. Today, in the series finale, I would like to introduce kana system glyphs that increase much more in large cha…

24.07.22SeriesJapanese Type Design / Surprisingly Many Kana System Glyphs

Surprisingly Many Kana System Glyphs 03: “Half-Width, and Block of Multiple Characters Arranged in a Space Equivalent to That of a Single Character”

Today, I would like to introduce points on creating half-width and blocks of multiple characters arranged in a space equivalent to that of a single character, testing the application ability…

24.06.17SeriesJapanese Type Design / Surprisingly Many Kana System Glyphs

Surprisingly Many Kana System Glyphs 02: “With Voiced Dots, Semi-Voiced Dots, and Small Scripts”

I introduced the story of the number of glyphs in the previous article of this series. Today, I would like to introduce points on creating them. Kana with voiced dots and semi-voiced dots It…

24.06.03SeriesJapanese Type Design / Surprisingly Many Kana System Glyphs

Surprisingly Many Kana System Glyphs 01: “Hiragana: Not Enough with 50 Characters”

“The 50 sounds in Hiragana” are often referenced. However, when creating Hiragana in font creation, 50 glyphs are not enough, and usually an approximate 100 glyphs are created. Glyphs, such …

24.03.04SeriesJapanese Type Design / Kanji Creation and Radicals

Kanji Creation and Radicals 04 “Association with Meaning”

I don’t think anybody can catch a glimpse of the creator’s feeling by looking at each font character. However, many kanji characters have this meaning embedded, so I tend to associate a vari…

24.01.15SeriesJapanese Type Design / Kanji Creation and Radicals

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.” F…

23.12.04SeriesJapanese Type Design / Kanji Creation and Radicals

Kanji Creation and Radicals 02 “Common Name for Kanji”

What are the common names for each radical? Apart from those in which the original kanji names are used as they are, such as “ki-hen, take-kanmuri, mon-gamae,” etc., there are names with a t…

23.10.30SeriesJapanese Type Design / Kanji Creation and Radicals

Kanji Creation and Radicals 01: “Common Radicals”

As previously introduced in this blog, kanji can be categorized by radical. Although the number of radical categories varies depending on the dictionary, there are some radicals that have co…

23.10.16SeriesJapanese Type Design / “木 (Ki)” That Cannot Be Copy-Pasted

“木 (Ki)” That Cannot Be Copy-Pasted 04: “Thickness”

Adjustment of thickness is essential to creating a sense of unity in the character. For “木 (Ki)” that comes in the center, there are more adjustments in the horizontal stroke. Thickness is a…

23.08.07SeriesJapanese Type Design / “木 (Ki)” That Cannot Be Copy-Pasted

“木 (Ki)” That Cannot Be Copy-Pasted 03: “The Forth Stroke of Stop Brush”

As introduced in the first article of the series, some forms of “木 (Ki)” incorporate a stop brush on the forth stroke. Adjustment of this stop brush may be bold compared to the other strokes…

23.07.18SeriesJapanese Type Design / “木 (Ki)” That Cannot Be Copy-Pasted

“木 (Ki)” That Cannot Be Copy-Pasted 02: “Width and Height”

“木 (Ki)” becomes vertically long in ki-hen, such as “村, 榑, 樹,” etc. The width of “木 (Ki)” is tuned to a fine degree to match the element that comes on the right side. On the other hand, ther…

23.05.29SeriesJapanese Type Design / “木 (Ki)” That Cannot Be Copy-Pasted

“木 (Ki)” That Cannot Be Copy-Pasted 01: “Harai (Sweeping) and Ten (Stop Brush)”

From this time, I would like to focus only on “木 (Ki)” and introduce what kind of adjustments are made in creating kanji. There are a lot of kanji with “木 (Ki),” such as “札, 杉, 村, 極, 機, 樹, 呆…

23.05.08SeriesJapanese Type Design / Constituent of Kanji and Creation Points

Constituent of Kanji and Creation Points 05: “Consistency”

To create a radical, there is a group of patterns that are approved, such as making a certain stroke in a stop brush or sweeping. Even with choices made freely, taking a broad view of charac…

23.03.20SeriesJapanese Type Design / Constituent of Kanji and Creation Points

Constituent of Kanji and Creation Points 04: “Enclosed System”

The radicals of the enclosed system include “tare,” “nyou,” and “kamae.” Thickness is adjusted so that appearance of the enclosing side is stronger, and the enclosed part is weaker. Regardin…

23.02.27SeriesJapanese Type Design / Constituent of Kanji and Creation Points

Constituent of Kanji and Creation Points 03: “Horizontal Division System”

Today, I would like to introduce points on creating a kanji that consists of the top and bottom division as the horizontal division system. The part on the top of kanji is called “kanmuri (c…

12
Sign up NewsletterStaff Blog TopGlossary

Series

  • Type Engineering
    • Introduction to Bézier Curve
  • FitFont
    • Introduction to FitFont Service
  • Latin Type Design
    • Latin Italic
  • Japanese Type Design
    • Japanese Yakumono (Punctuation Marks and Symbols)
    • Surprisingly Many Kana System Glyphs
    • “木 (Ki)” That Cannot Be Copy-Pasted
    • Constituent of Kanji and Creation Points
    • Designing Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana
    • Kanji Creation and Radicals
  • Typesetting Japanese
    • Font Typesetting Function
    • Recombination of Kanji and Kana
    • Typesetting Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana
  • Web Font
    • Optimization of Web Font
    • Web Font Design Technique
    • Web Font Overview
  • Development Story
    • Jun Mincho Development Story
    • TP Sky Modern Blk Development Story
    • TP Sky Classic Latin Development Story
    • Tokyo CityFont Development Story
  • Font in use
    • TP Font in use
  • Recommended Book
    • Book of the Month
    • From TP’s Stack
  • Other
    • 待ち受けカレンダー
    • Questions for Font Creators
    • Behind the Scenes in Typeface Creation
    • Machine Learning and Type Design
    • Other

Past Entries

  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
Copyright (c) 2014-2025 Type Project. All right reserved. / Powered by REALTYPE.jp web font service.