# Different 八 on Android **URL:** \ **Category:** Bugs & Errors\ **Created:** [February 17, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200 "2019-02-17T15:59:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![steffenalbrecht](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/steffenalbrecht/32/235751_2.png) [@steffenalbrecht](https://community.wanikani.com/u/steffenalbrecht)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/1 "2019-02-17T15:59:15Z")
On my Android phone the 八 looks different from what I see on my (Linux) desktop computer (regardless of browser) and elsewhere on the web, like so: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/8/a/8a55a7ba07de4634f5524a85c1499a86ed5e41c6.png) I first thought it was a bug because it came up in a review first and I had never seen it before. Is this a correct alternative to the normal 八 ? At least it would explain why the text says “This isn’t exactly the same as the fins radical, but it’s close.” Because the regular 八 looks exactly like the fins radical to me. ---
**Author:** ![Leebo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/leebo/32/439476_2.png) [@Leebo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Leebo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/2 "2019-02-17T16:01:24Z")
There are numerous ways of writing many kanji. It’s just a different font. Here are an assortment of 八s. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/a/8/a826b85ff039acde6f0b618935c53c6c66b9ce28.png) And that diagram doesn’t have the one you’re most familiar with, it seems, which I assume you mean looks something more like this. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/c/6/c66ad30db93f33d594fa2a7f841724b4644bc064.jpeg) Personally, on my computer, I see what you’re seeing on your Android. ---
**Author:** ![steffenalbrecht](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/steffenalbrecht/32/235751_2.png) [@steffenalbrecht](https://community.wanikani.com/u/steffenalbrecht)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/3 "2019-02-17T16:09:08Z")
Thanks for the informative reply. 🙂 I suppose since WaniKani emphasizes the visual shape of the kanji so much with the radicals approach the graphics for each one were fixed and not OS/font-dependent. Probably better for learning to stay on a single machine then, lest one gets confused. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![Leebo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/leebo/32/439476_2.png) [@Leebo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Leebo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/4 "2019-02-17T16:11:29Z")
I suppose. Usually it’s not too big of a deal, but some can be particularly jarring. 噌, which is the second character in the word “miso,” as in “miso soup,” can be written in two ways. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/0/c/0cf96ebda9099b851a84d78154c8cbaf4fbe056a.png) ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/3/5/3587f2f04a706101abb599e479d506e92d66d39b.png) ---
**Author:** ![steffenalbrecht](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/steffenalbrecht/32/235751_2.png) [@steffenalbrecht](https://community.wanikani.com/u/steffenalbrecht)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/5 "2019-02-17T16:15:37Z")
I suppose the fact that all other kanji looked exactly the same on both machines threw me off the track. Had they all looked different I reckon I would have thought of different fonts … Fascinating! 😮 ---
**Author:** ![abdullahalt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/abdullahalt/32/195998_2.png) [@abdullahalt](https://community.wanikani.com/u/abdullahalt)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/6 "2019-02-17T16:19:06Z")
So it’s “two way of writing”? Not just a different font? But that’s just way too confusing, the horns are totally reversed ---
**Author:** ![seanblue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/seanblue/32/579844_2.png) [@seanblue](https://community.wanikani.com/u/seanblue)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/7 "2019-02-17T16:39:55Z")
Isn’t a different font just a different way of writing? * * * @steffenalbrecht If you’re interested, there’s is a script you can install for WaniKani that will randomly change the font during reviews. You just have to have various fonts installed on your computer and make sure they are listed in the script. > [@Jitai (字体): The font randomizer that fits](https://community.wanikani.com/t/jitai-%E5%AD%97%E4%BD%93-the-font-randomizer-that-fits/12617): > > warning This is a third-party script/app and is not created by the WaniKani team. By using this, you understand that it can stop working at any time or be discontinued indefinitely. [Jitai logo] What is Jitai?warning This is a third-party script/app and is not created by the WaniKani team. By using this, you understand that it can stop working at any time or be discontinued indefinitely. One thing that can become a bit of a problem when using WaniKani is that you are only ever exposed… ---
**Author:** ![TheSkynet1337](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/theskynet1337/32/69232_2.png) [@TheSkynet1337](https://community.wanikani.com/u/TheSkynet1337)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/8 "2019-02-17T16:50:48Z")
The biggest difference I’ve seen between my Windows and Linux machines has been “[fix](https://www.wanikani.com/kanji/%E7%9B%B4)” where Linux used the simplified Chinese instead of Japanese. Which also turns the mnemonic into gibberish since the Chinese variant doesn’t have a lion but a ground radical. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/8/c/8c742508c0d56e133d5553fb81d5961277d67de4.png) ---
**Author:** ![abdullahalt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/abdullahalt/32/195998_2.png) [@abdullahalt](https://community.wanikani.com/u/abdullahalt)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/9 "2019-02-17T16:54:05Z")
Oh i get it now, I assumed the two have totally different unicode, hence: each font has the two. I have Jitai but for some reason it doesn’t pick up the new fonts i installed, probably have to check that with the developer ---
**Author:** ![seanblue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/seanblue/32/579844_2.png) [@seanblue](https://community.wanikani.com/u/seanblue)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/10 "2019-02-17T16:55:53Z")
The top of the script has a list of fonts to look for. You have to make sure your new fonts are in that list. ---
**Author:** ![steffenalbrecht](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/steffenalbrecht/32/235751_2.png) [@steffenalbrecht](https://community.wanikani.com/u/steffenalbrecht)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/11 "2019-02-17T17:23:01Z")
> [@seanblue](#): > > @steffenalbrecht If you’re interested, there’s is a script you can install for WaniKani that will randomly change the font during reviews. You just have to have various fonts installed on your computer and make sure they are listed in the script. Capital idea! Now I just need more fonts … 😉 ---
**Author:** ![steffenalbrecht](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/steffenalbrecht/32/235751_2.png) [@steffenalbrecht](https://community.wanikani.com/u/steffenalbrecht)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/12 "2019-02-17T19:17:04Z")
Fascinating. I loaded some more fonts, and now I’m in fact seeing different Kanji, including a 八 that looks much like the one in the screenshot. You see, what I was seeing originally looked exactly like the “fins”, so I thought the kanji were actual graphics, not fonts. Since what one sees depends on the fonts used in the own browser I suppose my first post made not much sense to most readers. Kudos to @Leebo for still figuring out what I meant. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![seanblue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/seanblue/32/579844_2.png) [@seanblue](https://community.wanikani.com/u/seanblue)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/13 "2019-02-17T19:20:46Z")
> [@steffenalbrecht](#): > > I suppose my first post made not much sense to most readers Yeah, I couldn’t tell at all from the post itself, even though I knew what you meant. ---
**Author:** ![Jul3](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/jul3/32/204843_2.png) [@Jul3](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Jul3)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/14 "2019-02-18T01:11:12Z")
I had the same problem the other day, which I noticed with the 直 kanji. However, I googled the solution! Simply go to your Android settings, go to Language, and add Japanese **as a second language** This way all your phone is still in English, but it changes the font so it doesn’t use the Chinese characters but uses the Japanese kanji, so they all display properly. ---
**Author:** ![Leebo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/leebo/32/439476_2.png) [@Leebo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Leebo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/15 "2019-02-18T01:14:09Z")
But the form of 八 mentioned in the first post is a valid Japanese form… ---
**Author:** ![steffenalbrecht](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/steffenalbrecht/32/235751_2.png) [@steffenalbrecht](https://community.wanikani.com/u/steffenalbrecht)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 5:44am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/16 "2019-02-18T05:44:03Z")
Yeah. My problem was not about having fonts, but about not realizing that this was about fonts. The default fonts on my desktop machine and my phone were practically identical, except for the 八 kanji, so I didn’t realize the kanji in WaniKani were system fonts, at all. I thought they were custom-made graphics files. ---
**Author:** ![steffenalbrecht](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/steffenalbrecht/32/235751_2.png) [@steffenalbrecht](https://community.wanikani.com/u/steffenalbrecht)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/17 "2019-02-19T18:56:53Z")
BTW the script works. Nice. 🙂 But still, the fonts I could find are still roughly similar. Does anyone, by any chance, know of some more unusual (handwritten-style) fonts that work for Linux? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/6/2/a/62a8b0f4c59ff2c5b6651ffcf43531480b3e5297.png) [@system](https://community.wanikani.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-%E5%85%AB-on-android/35200/18 "2020-02-19T19:00:33Z")
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