Abstract
Japanese consists of Kanji and Kana characters. Each style of Kana characters may result in different visual impressions in the printed texts. This paper proposes a method for classifying Japanese body text-typefaces, based on solely Hiragana's scalable visual parameters. Mincho (11 typefaces) and Gothic (8 typefaces) were chosen as the chief typeface categories for body text. Three parameters were measured: area ratio of Hiragana and Kanji characters, area of counters and weight. In comparison with the existing classification criteria, the result shows that typeface of modern style, designed in a square-like shape, while those of classic style, hiragana characters designed in a small area and counter.
