CJKV Information Processing, 2nd Edition

Alternate Metrics

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Proportional Kana

While most Japanese users are accustomed to using full-width kana in their documents,

those who have been using proprietary typesetting equipment know that most kana

designs are inherently conducive to being set with proportional widths.

Table 7-31 illustrates a short Japanese sentence, using both full-width and alternate

(proportional, in this case) metrics for the kana. TypeBank’s     Std M

(TypeBankMStd-M) is used in this example.

Full-width and proportional kanaTable 7-31.

Metrics Glyph string

Full-width

きょう、本を買った。

Proportional

きょう、本を買った。

Note how the small kana—the characters  and  in this example—have undergone the

most drastic reduction in set width, which results in improved readability. While this is

typical for standard kana designs, it is by no means a steadfast rule. In other words, the

amount of reduction in set widths varies from design to design.

Table 7-32 illustrates the same Japanese sentence, but this time using an alternate kana

design, TypeBank’s TBM Std M (TBRyokanMStd-M) combined with TypeBank’s 

    Std M (TypeBankMStd-M) for the kanji.

Full-width and proportional kana—alternate kanaTable 7-32.

Metrics Glyph string

Full-width

きょう、本を買った。

Proportional

き ょう 、本を買った。

Note how the alternate kana design illustrated in Table 7-32 results in a more drastic dif-

ference in metrics between full-width