Learning Japanese: Computer Fonts

Recent versions of operating systems should display Japanese characters without additional configuration. The following sample displays fine on Linux (tested: Firefox, Konqueror) and Windows XP (tested: Firefox, IE):

すべての人間は、生まれながらにして自由であり、
かつ、尊厳と権利と について平等である。
人間は、理性と良心とを授けられており、
互いに同胞の精神をもって行動しなければならない。

If you’re using IE8, you may have to click on the “Compatibility Mode” button to display the kanji characters; hiragana and katakana display fine without it. (MS’s handling of “compatibility” in IE is a rant for another day.)

If the sample above still doesn’t look right, you may need to install some additional fonts.

Installing Fonts

For basic information on installing Japanese fonts, see Help:Installing Japanese character sets on Wikipedia.

Linux

For Linux, use your software package manager to browse for Japanese fonts. Package names may vary from distribution to distribution.

Under Fedora, for example, “yum install fonts-japanese” should be sufficient.

Windows

Microsoft provides ClearType fonts; just Google for “Japanese ClearType fonts for Windows”. The package for XP may have been replaced with a “Vista”-tagged title, but it is also for XP.

Note: extracted from Introduction