Waseda WeeklyWaseda Weekly

Have you ever paid attention to the font when you're reading? Actually, I have very strong likes and dislikes when it comes to fonts. For example, among the many Mincho typefaces, I dislike Ryumin and Seikosha Mincho. Since Ryumin is often used in Shincho Bunko and Seikosha Mincho in Iwanami Bunko, it's quite a problem for me as a literary scholar.

On the other hand, even within the Shincho Bunko series, I love the Shuei Hosomincho font, and my absolute favorite is the Iwata Mincho font. The Iwata Mincho font is widely used by Kadokawa Bunko and Hayakawa Bunko. Sogen Mystery Bunko, a long-established publisher of foreign mystery translations, also used to use the Iwata Mincho font, but recently for some reason they've been using Ryumin more often. So, out of necessity, for the past few years I've been collecting new translations of foreign mysteries in Kadokawa Bunko and Hayakawa Bunko editions. However, there are works that are only translated by Sogen Mystery Bunko, and in those cases I reluctantly read them in Ryumin, but I can't quite experience the exhilarating feeling of being immersed in the world of the story.

You might think, "It's just a font." However, literature isn't always all about the written content. The shape of the letters that carry the meaning of the text unconsciously stimulates the reader's senses and aids in understanding the content. If we consider that the reader's level of understanding gives the text its receptive value, then this becomes a rather important issue. Am I reading "text" or "letters"? Re-examining my own reading behavior from this perspective is another gateway to further study.

(SK)

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