Furifont
Shares rank 4 of 26 typefaces by recommenders
Japanese font that displays furigana reading aids through ligatures, useful for learners and decoding unknown kanji. Critics say readings are often wrong, especially with arbitrary pronunciations and line wraps.
Japanese font that displays furigana reading aids through ligatures, useful for learners and decoding unknown kanji. Critics say readings are often wrong, especially with arbitrary pronunciations and line wraps.
24 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Shows furigana everywhere without extra software
“you could set this as the default system font for Japanese and enjoy furigana everywhere”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana” “seeing furigana done purely in the font is very cool”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana” Helpful for Japanese learners
“This could be really useful as a decoding tool when you don’t know the kanji”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana” “This is AWESOME for Japanese learners.”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana” Clever use of ligatures
“This is an interesting use of ligatures for sure. However, I really don't know when one would use it.”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana” “seeing furigana done purely in the font is very cool”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Readings often wrong
“But 4% of kanji words is still multiple wrong furigana per page.”
Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana” “Maybe useful, but not super reliable.”
Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana” “this is wrong a huge percent of the time, like 20-50%”
Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana” - Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana”
- Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana”
Fails on unprepared text
“Screwing meaning is on a whole different level and Google Translate or even the built in screen reader of your OS will do an extremely good job given enough context”
Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana” “this would not work on unprepared texts, as pronunciation of Japanese words are a bit arbitrary”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “Furifont, a Japanese font that shows furigana”
Other typefaces people recommend
The four most recommended other typefaces, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Times New Roman | 35 | 28 | 56% | 4 | — | — |
| Atkinson Hyperlegible | 23 | 2 | 92% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Shantell Sans | 19 | 1 | 95% | 2 | — | — |
| FurifontThis page | 16 | 8 | 67% | 1 | — | — |
| Calibri | 16 | 36 | 31% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
19 of the 24 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“obviously going to be wrong a lot of the time”
“does it make sense to strongly couple the logic of when and where to show furigana, with the choice of font?”
“I like how for この先生きのこるには, it has この先生(せんせい) as opposed この先(さき)生(い)きのこる.”
“A few basic errors did stand out, though”
“Screwing meaning is on a whole different level and Google Translate or even the built in screen reader of your OS will do an extremely good job given enough context”
“this is wrong a huge percent of the time, like 20-50%”
“But 4% of kanji words is still multiple wrong furigana per page.”
“Maybe useful, but not super reliable.”
“This is going to be nonsense like half the time.”
“This is AWESOME for Japanese learners.”
“Yeah, I already see a few mistakes just looking at this page. But I guess still useful?”
“nice, we could do a lithuanian stress font this way too”
“it's also a terrible idea that nobody should actually use”
“this would not work on unprepared texts, as pronunciation of Japanese words are a bit arbitrary”
“This could be really useful as a decoding tool when you don’t know the kanji”
“it gives the wrong pronunciation when words get split in a line wrap”
“you could set this as the default system font for Japanese and enjoy furigana everywhere”
“This is an interesting use of ligatures for sure. However, I really don't know when one would use it.”
“seeing furigana done purely in the font is very cool”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.