Why are some kanjis on this site different to the ones in the book?

stoked Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2009-01-09 Posts: 378 Website

Hello,

while studying RTK1 online I've noticed that a few kanjis look different on this site to the ones in the book. Why is this? Examples: #73 straightaway, #84 blade...

It's a bit confusing for a beginner.

Thanks for help and greetings from Switzerland,
Marcel

Katsuo M.O.D.

From: Tokyo Registered: 2007-02-06 Posts: 887 Website

If you are using a Chinese font (instead of Japanese) the characters you mention will look a little different. Check the settings in your browser.

stoked Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2009-01-09 Posts: 378 Website

Hmm....I'm on Kubuntu and Firefox.

Somehow I doubt it's a font problem...?! (not sure)

Edit: Maybe this is a misunderstanding? I'm referring to the online study section.

For example, this one looks different in my Heisig book...

Is this really a font problem? Should I focus on the book's kanji or on the study section?

Last edited by stoked (2009 January 10, 4:24 pm)

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Katsuo M.O.D.

From: Tokyo Registered: 2007-02-06 Posts: 887 Website

刃, Japanese fonts: the shortest stroke (the "drop") cuts through the sloping stroke.
Chinese fonts: the shortest stroke (the "drop") is to the left of the sloping stroke.

直, Japanese fonts: the final stroke is a right-angle, and the "eye" is not touching it.
Chinese fonts: the final stoke is straight and the sides of the "eye" extend down and touch it.

So, looking at your lower graphic it does seem to be a font problem.

Re your upper graphic, what happens when you click "Choose"?

stoked Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2009-01-09 Posts: 378 Website

Thank you tons!

Well, this is what happens:

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2614/thissg1.png

But now...what to pick?! And will it mess up everything else? Uhhm...

Edit: Argh, sorry. You said choose. Give me a second...

Last edited by stoked (2009 January 10, 4:57 pm)

stoked Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2009-01-09 Posts: 378 Website

Okay, here:

Must I add Japanese?

playadom Member

Registered: 2007-06-29 Posts: 468

stoked wrote:
Okay, here:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/5035/hahuh4.png

Must I add Japanese?

Best way to find out is to try it and see if it works.

stoked Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2009-01-09 Posts: 378 Website

Okay, I did that. I even put it at the top position. But it doesn't work.

The kanji still looks the same. :\

Katsuo M.O.D.

From: Tokyo Registered: 2007-02-06 Posts: 887 Website

Actually, please ignore the last comment I made in my previous reply ("Re your upper graphic, what happens when you click "Choose"?").

I think it's the "Default font" selection you need to change. I'm using a Mac, and the Firefox preferences panel is slightly different (where yours says "serif", mine has the name of a font).

Do you have any Japanese fonts installed? If so, you should be able to reset the default to one of them.

I know nothing about Kubuntu, so if you're still having problems, perhaps someone who does could advise...

stoked Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2009-01-09 Posts: 378 Website

Interesting, thank you guys. Katsuo, what is the name of the font that you are using?

stoked Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2009-01-09 Posts: 378 Website

Sorry for double-posting, but I found another option in the advanced tab:

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1079/hhhhyt8.png

This is probably what I need to change, I just don't know how.

Also, I just set all my operating system to Japanese by accident, so I guess there is a Japanese font on my system. But uhh, I'm not really there yet....haha. :\

Katsuo M.O.D.

From: Tokyo Registered: 2007-02-06 Posts: 887 Website

stoked wrote:
Katsuo, what is the name of the font that you are using?

I've got around thirty Japanese fonts installed in my computer. The one I use most for studying kanji is DFPKyoKaSho-W3.

There's a page of free fonts here WAZU, including EPSON 教科書体Ｍ (epkyouka.ttf) which is similar to the DFP one I mentioned above.

But again, I don't know whether any of these are any good to Kubuntu users.

EDIT: Just to clarify "DFPKyoKaSho-W3" is what is selected as the Default font.

Last edited by Katsuo (2009 January 10, 5:43 pm)

Katsuo M.O.D.

From: Tokyo Registered: 2007-02-06 Posts: 887 Website

stoked wrote:
I found another option in the advanced tab:

When I click on "Advanced" I get a similar window to yours, except with the following differences:

Proportional: Sans Serif
Serif: Hiragino Mincho Pro
Sans-serif: DFPKyoKaSho-W3
Monospace: Osaka-Mono

And the checkbox ("Allow pages to choose th...."etc) is blank

nest0r Member

Registered: 2007-10-19 Posts: 5236 Website

Might want to check this out:
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.p … =3099856.0

bandwidthjunkie Member

From: UK Registered: 2008-10-23 Posts: 90

Are you using Anthy for your Japanese input on kubuntu 8.10? I found the whole system totally unstable and unusable, after a month of nothing working properly I downgraded to ubuntu 8.04 and use Gnome instead and its great, yay!

I wouldn't worry about the font thing too much, there are only a handful of cases where the computer font differs from what is in RtK. I'm still not sure about the drop on the top of the flags though, which you sometimes see. I've seen them in Japan itself on signs, but my "non-drop" keyword makes sense, so I don't know if they are actually different kanji, or just different fonts.

Last edited by bandwidthjunkie (2009 January 10, 8:47 pm)

stoked Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2009-01-09 Posts: 378 Website

Katsuo, thanks for your settings. I have not figured it out yet but I'll look into this.

nest0r, great link. This might help...

bandwidthjunkie, I have not yet entered any Japanese at all up to now. I'm still a RTK1 student and had no need for it so far. This will change though. I think I will focus on the book's kanji for now (but keep on using this site of course) and look into this later.

(btw, not a big fan of Gnome, I definitely prefer KDE4)

Thanks everyone!!