Mincho

明朝体 / 19th century– / Style / Japanese Type

Regularizes the kaisho skeleton into thin horizontals and thick verticals fit for carving — with its uroko serifs, it still carries Japanese text setting.

Thin horizontals, thick verticals / Uroko serifs / Kaisho-derived skeleton / Steady text-block color

Mincho — 明朝体の構造見本 — 明朝体の構造見本／『康熙字典』1827 ／日本語の金属活字

Mincho — 『康熙字典』1827 — 明朝体の構造見本／『康熙字典』1827 ／日本語の金属活字

Dictionary entry

Best used for: Setting long-form Japanese in books and magazines · A formal, quiet Japanese voice
Type: Observe the letters, signs and scale of reference works
Composition: Extract the one structure that governs gaze and information
Material: Verify the materials and behaviors specific to era, region and process
Caution: Don't reduce it to surface signs. Verify the context of era, region, technology and makers.
Further study: Motoki Shōzō / the Tokyo Tsukiji Type Foundry / electrotype matrix making

Related entries

Japanese Gothic (ゴシック体)
Letterpress (活版印刷)

Source: 印刷博物館 — 東京築地活版製造所活字

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