Tazugane® Gothic

Monotype is proud to introduce the Tazugane Gothic typeface family as its first original Japanese typeface in its history. Designed by Akira Kobayashi, Kazuhiro Yamada and Ryota Doi of the Monotype Studio, the Tazugane Gothic typeface offers ten weights and was developed to complement the classic Latin typeface, Neue Frutiger.

Tazugane Gothic balances the sans serif, humanistic style with elements of traditional Japanese handwriting. This natural, seamless and adaptable manner allows Japanese and Latin texts to be used side-by-side for a wide range of applications. It works extremely well on screen and in print. Thus it will have appeal in corporate branding and advertising, packaging, publishing and signage.

The typeface is named Tazugane Gothic in honor of the crane, an auspicious, elegant and noble bird that has been widely employed as a motif in works of literature and art. It was designed as a Japanese sans serif that adopts the same philosophies that define the Neue Frutiger typeface, including its steadiness, resiliency and nearly unlimited applicability across a wide range of uses.

The counters of the Tazugane Gothic typeface have been designed to be smaller and narrower to preserve the balance of traditional handwriting taught in schools and generate a natural rhythm when the type is set. These adjustments result in a flexible typeface that allows Japanese and Latin characters to be used together with a uniform look that improves legibility and consistency.

The complete Tazugane Gothic typeface family has 10 weights. The Light, Book, Regular, Medium and Bold weights are best for text sizes. The Ultra Light, Thin, Heavy, Black and Extra Black weights are recommended for headline sizes.