
If you are in need of free Japanese fonts, here are a few totally free fonts for personal AND commercial use. As I find more, I’ll post them here.
Note: if you have a PC, you may need a third-party software to open the gz compressed formats. 7-Zip is a common unzip program.
—
A quick word on Japanese fonts. There are two main types of Japanese fonts.
-
明朝体 minchoutai — Ming style typeface
-
ゴシック体 goshikkutai — Gothic style typeface
The 明朝体 or “Ming Dynasty font” is so named because it mimics the regular script style developed during the Ming Dynasty. This is the most commonly used style of font in Japan.
The ゴシック体 or Gothic style is kind of like the English Courier font or a plain sans serif style in that the strokes have an even thickness and a lack serifs or decorative strokes at the end of a line.