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Japanese · Mincho (serif)明朝体

Zen Antique Soft

あ: あ · The hiragana a, the first kana

Zen Antique Soft is a free Mincho font for Japanese by Yoshimichi Ohira, on Google Fonts since 2021. It draws 6,682 kanji and the kana, and the English alphabet, in one weight (400).

Get it on Google Fonts Every character

あのイーハトーヴォのすきとおった風

The opening of Miyazawa Kenji’s The Polano Square · Regular 400

01 / Characters

Hiragana, katakana and kanji

The characters Japanese readers learn first, set in Zen Antique Soft.

Hiragana ひらがな

Each with its sound

  1. あa
  2. いi
  3. うu
  4. えe
  5. おo
  6. かka
  7. きki
  8. くku
  9. けke
  10. こko
  11. さsa
  12. しshi
  13. すsu
  14. せse
  15. そso
  16. たta
  17. ちchi
  18. つtsu
  19. てte
  20. とto
  21. なna
  22. にni
  23. ぬnu
  24. ねne
  25. のno
  26. はha
  27. ひhi
  28. ふfu
  29. へhe
  30. ほho
  31. まma
  32. みmi
  33. むmu
  34. めme
  35. もmo
  36. やya
  37. ゆyu
  38. よyo
  39. らra
  40. りri
  41. るru
  42. れre
  43. ろro
  44. わwa
  45. をwo
  46. んn

Katakana カタカナ

Each with its sound

  1. アa
  2. イi
  3. ウu
  4. エe
  5. オo
  6. カka
  7. キki
  8. クku
  9. ケke
  10. コko
  11. サsa
  12. シshi
  13. スsu
  14. セse
  15. ソso
  16. タta
  17. チchi
  18. ツtsu
  19. テte
  20. トto
  21. ナna
  22. ニni
  23. ヌnu
  24. ネne
  25. ノno
  26. ハha
  27. ヒhi
  28. フfu
  29. ヘhe
  30. ホho
  31. マma
  32. ミmi
  33. ムmu
  34. メme
  35. モmo
  36. ヤya
  37. ユyu
  38. ヨyo
  39. ラra
  40. リri
  41. ルru
  42. レre
  43. ロro
  44. ワwa
  45. ヲwo
  46. ンn

Kanji 漢字

Each with its meaning

  1. 永eternity
  2. 日sun
  3. 月moon
  4. 火fire
  5. 水water
  6. 木tree
  7. 金gold
  8. 土earth
  9. 山mountain
  10. 川river
  11. 雨rain
  12. 花flower
  13. 空sky
  14. 海sea
  15. 風wind
  16. 森forest
  17. 夢dream
  18. 愛love
  19. 心heart
  20. 道way
  21. 書write
  22. 字letter
  23. 光light
  24. 春spring
  25. 夏summer
  26. 秋autumn
  27. 冬winter
  28. 東east
  29. 京capital
  30. 語language

02 / Text

As running text

The opening of Miyazawa Kenji’s The Polano Square.

あのイーハトーヴォのすきとおった風、夏でも底に冷たさをもつ青いそら、うつくしい森で飾られたモリーオ市、郊外のぎらぎらひかる草の波。

Set large

あのイーハトーヴォのすきとおった風、夏でも底に冷たさをもつ青いそら、うつくしい森で飾られたモリーオ市、郊外のぎらぎらひかる草の波。

At reading size · 16 px

あのイーハトーヴォのすきとおった風、夏でも底に冷たさをもつ青いそら、うつくしい森で飾られたモリーオ市、郊外のぎらぎらひかる草の波。

Set vertically

03 / Facts

What it covers

Kanji
6,682
More than the 6,355 of JIS levels 1 and 2, the standard set
Kana
182
Hiragana and katakana, with their voiced and small forms
Weights
1
One weight, Regular (400)
Vertical text
Yes
Vertical forms of its own, OpenType’s vert
Font file
6.8 MB
Its Regular: Google serves it in slices
Licence
OFL 1.1
Free for commercial use

Designed by Yoshimichi Ohira. On Google Fonts since 2021, under the SIL Open Font License 1.1.

Get it on Google Fonts Its licence file

LatinIt draws the English alphabet too, as in its name:Zen Antique Soft

04 / Mincho

More Mincho Japanese fonts

Every Mincho font for Japanese →

All 76 Japanese fonts →Japanese, Chinese and Korean fonts →

05 / Questions

Questions about Zen Antique Soft

Answered from its licence and its font file

Is Zen Antique Soft free for commercial use?

Yes. Zen Antique Soft is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 , which allows commercial use at any scale: print, websites, apps, videos and logos, for clients and in products. What it forbids is selling the font file on its own.

How do I download and install Zen Antique Soft?

FontKind doesn’t host Zen Antique Soft’s files: it comes free from Google Fonts . On its page there, choose Get font, then Download all, and unzip the file: it holds a single font file. On Windows or a Mac, double-click each font file and choose Install, then restart any app that was open.

Does Zen Antique Soft have kanji?

Yes: Zen Antique Soft draws 6,682 kanji, with the hiragana and katakana. That is more than the 6,355 of JIS levels 1 and 2, the standard set for Japanese text.

How do I use Zen Antique Soft on a website?

Through Google Fonts: its stylesheet cuts Zen Antique Soft into about a hundred small files by character, and a browser downloads only those holding the characters a page shows, never the whole 6.8 MB Regular file. To host it yourself, cut it down to the characters your pages use, a step called subsetting, and serve it as WOFF2: the SIL Open Font License allows that, under a name of your own if the font reserves its name.

Can Zen Antique Soft set vertical text?

Yes: Zen Antique Soft’s file has vertical forms, the OpenType vert feature, so in a vertical line its commas, full stops and brackets, and its small kana, turn and move as they should. On a web page, CSS writing-mode: vertical-rl sets a block vertically; Word, InDesign and Illustrator have vertical text of their own.

Can I use Zen Antique Soft in a game or an app?

Yes. The SIL Open Font License lets you build Zen Antique Soft into a game, an app or an e-book, sold or free, with no separate licence to buy, as many paid fonts require. Ship its licence with the font files, and don’t sell the font on its own.

How many weights does Zen Antique Soft have?

Zen Antique Soft comes in one weight, Regular (400). Ask for bold and most apps thicken the letters themselves: a faux bold, not a drawn one.

Does Zen Antique Soft have English letters?

Yes: Zen Antique Soft draws all 52 letters of the English alphabet, so a line that mixes Japanese and English can stay in one font.

Who designed Zen Antique Soft?

Zen Antique Soft was designed by Yoshimichi Ohira. It has been on Google Fonts since October 2021.

What fonts are similar to Zen Antique Soft?

The most used Japanese Mincho fonts besides Zen Antique Soft are Noto Serif JP, Shippori Mincho and Sawarabi Mincho. See every Mincho font for Japanese.