Do you like Japanese fonts? If you are passionate about oriental culture, surely you have ended up with some resources related to Japan. So we have set out to give you some ideas of Japanese fonts to download.
Of course, remember that Japanese has three types of letters, hiragana, katakana and kanji.. Do you know the difference between them?
Hiragana, katakana and kanji, how are they different?
When you start to study Japanese you realize that it's not as easy as spanish, french or even english; in addition to the fact that it has three types of letters and that sometimes they are used together, others separately.
We speak of hiragana, katakana and kanji. But maybe you don't know the difference. Very briefly, we can say that:
- hiragana: It is a phonetic alphabet, where each letter represents a syllable. But be careful, because sometimes they can also represent a whole word. It is the most used and in fact it is the oldest of the three. It is made up of 46 sounds and its representation can be a bit complicated to perform (especially if you are not used to it).
- Katakana: It is also a phonetic alphabet, made up of 46 sounds, the same as in hiragana. This is used exclusively to write foreign words.
- Kanji: Actually, they are ideograms and of Chinese origin, not Japanese. However, they began to be used in the fourth century and continue today. Actually, they are representations of a meaning, they are not in themselves a letter. And whoever says one meaning, says several because depending on how they are placed and where they can be interpreted in certain ways.
Japanese fonts that we recommend
Now that you know the differences, here we want to leave you some Japanese fonts that can come in handy, either to keep them in reserve for the projects that come to you or to use them with a client that you have in hand.
Yūji Boku
This is one of the first Japanese fonts that we are going to recommend because is digitized from a handmade font. In fact, the calligrapher was Yuji Kataoka, which is why it bears his name. She has delighted us because you have hiragana and katakana, plus western letters.
To download it you have to go here.
ōdachi
Odachi is one of those Japanese letters that you see in action animes, with a historical and battle touch. Well, so is this source.
If you pay attention, the letters have little dots or parts as if they had been scratched, hence they give that feeling.
Of course, in this case, although you can think of a Japanese style, you should know that you will have neither hiragana nor katakana, but the western alphabet. Plus everything will be capitalized.
If you want it, you have it here.
F.Z. Imokenpi
This source does gives you both Japanese and Western letter fonts, so you can take advantage of writing in two different ways in the project.
The most characteristic of this font is, without a doubt, the finishes of the letters that, if you look, they end up as if they had been torn at the end and "threads" remained.
Also, from what we have read gives you the main kanjis that are explained in elementary school plus some special characters.
The downloads here.
kanji
Well, as its name suggests, you have one of the Japanese typefaces that is based on kanji. Yes, you'll have to know exactly what they are to be able to use the correct one (and not screw up).
But if you have that under control, then you only have download it.
Kimono
Here we are going to make a clarification because this typography is paid. However, as you know, on Envato they give you 7 days to try and download what you want without paying anything. So if you register you could get this font.
What we like most about her is that some letters do not end up being united in all the strokes, and, if you notice, always there are some strokes or drawings inside the letters.
For the rest, they are very simple and flat lines, pBut they stand out and make you think of the land of the rising sun. Yes, en Latin alphabet, not Japanese.
The downloads here.
ungai
Since we are on Envato, we recommend that you do not stop downloading this other one. Ungai is one of the Japanese fonts that tries to emulate the Japanese alphabet, but what allows that you use the western alphabet (the Latin) to write.
The good thing is that it has both uppercase and lowercase letters, and also has punctuation marks and numbers.
you can download it here.
Craft Mincho
This Japanese letter, which offers you both Japanese and Latin alphabets, it's handmade but it's serif style. Also, if you look closely, it has a finish on the letters that makes them unique. And it is that the strokes are not clear, but have some white parts that give it more personality.
The downloads here.
Rampart One
Do you remember those manga in which the shouts or words that you want to stand out are put in shadow and relief? Well, that's exactly what you'll get in this Japanese font. It is built in three dimensions and will seem to come out of the paper.
You have available the Japanese and Latin alphabet (This is in uppercase and lowercase).
The downloads here.
shirokuma
This is one of the Japanese fonts that we liked the most for its clean line. It is made by graphic designer Kuma and the truth is that having both alphabets gives you the opportunity to use it in many different designs.
Yes, You cannot use it as a logo or with content related to politics, religion, discrimination or adults. For the rest, you have a free hand in personal and commercial use.
The downloads here.
JK Gothic L
Another of the fonts that we recommend is this, which comes with both hiragana and katakana, in addition to the Latin alphabet. Its creator is Joshi Kousei and you can use it for personal, non-commercial and commercial projects.
You have it here.
The truth is that there are many Japanese fonts to choose from. Some of them are based on the Japanese culture and introduce you to the Latin alphabet while others allow you to get both (or just Japanese) so you can work with them. Do you recommend any more?