Jitai (字体): The font randomizer that fits

I was watching the anime Gintama the other day and, as always, was annoyed at my inability to pick out any of the kanji from the episode title (pic related for an example of this).




Hopefully, after installing a whole bunch of handwritten fonts, I might eventually be able to start recognising a few. Thanks so much for making this!

lukeylukey10 said...


Ooh, that’s a tough one. In several ways. For reference, it says “ケンカの横槍は危険”【けんかのよこやりはきけん】.

First up, it mixes direction. First it’s top to bottom (kinda) with “ケンカの”. It then goes left to right for “横槍”, then “は” between the lines, and then “危険”. The only WaniKani word is “危険”, which you learn on level 16. The other word, 横槍, contains a jinmeiyo kanji (), - not joyo. WaniKani doesn’t cover it either. As if that wasn’t enough, the first word, “ケンカ”, is in katakana for some reason. Honestly that’s probably just as well, as the kanji for that word (喧嘩) are both jinmeiyo too.

I wonder if the typical Japanese person can read that title screen in the time it pops up. Hooooh.

obskyr said... I wonder if the typical Japanese person can read that title screen in the time it pops up. Hooooh.
 Well, I would guess that a majority (or at least many) japanese natives would be able to read it quickly enough as long as it isn't just flashed for a splitsecond since even I could read 危, 険 and 横 after a while / seeing the text in a "normal" font below (knowing the kanji I guess?) and I've only been in contact with jp text for ~1 year.
So in short my guess would be that jp people can read it since they're in contact with kanji all the time, just like we western people can read fucked up romaji fonts (+ a noob like me can read it with a little effort).

Also, why didn't I install this script earlier?
Could it be that at first you had to edit the fonts manually or smth, cos I'm pretty sure I often ignored a script like that?
RayderBlitz said..So in short my guess would be that jp people can read it since they're in contact with kanji all the time, just like we western people can read fucked up romaji fonts (+ a noob like me can read it with a little effort).

Also, why didn't I install this script earlier?
Could it be that at first you had to edit the fonts manually or smth, cos I'm pretty sure I often ignored a script like that?
What makes me doubt this a bit is just the sheer amount of kanji there are, the relative complexity of the glyphs, and that these aren't joyo. Guess you'd have to ask a native speaker (reader?), though, huh.

RayderBlitz said.Also, why didn't I install this script earlier?
Could it be that at first you had to edit the fonts manually or smth, cos I'm pretty sure I often ignored a script like that?
You might be thinking of the script this is inspired by, @Wind's "WaniKani random fonts", mentioned in the top post. That one required you to manually make your own font list. Jitai has worked "out of the box" since the very first version, though. After all, it is "the font randomizer that fits"! Glad you got it now, in any case. Hope you dig it!
obskyr said...You might be thinking of the script this is inspired by, @Wind's "WaniKani random fonts", mentioned in the top post. That one required you to manually make your own font list. Jitai has worked "out of the box" since the very first version, though. After all, it is "the font randomizer that fits"! Glad you got it now, in any case. Hope you dig it!
Oh yeah, that probably was it.
I just went full "yeah uhum, I read the agreement, sure"-ish. :○P

obskyr said... What makes me doubt this a bit is just the sheer amount of kanji there are, the relative complexity of the glyphss, and that these aren't joyo. Guess you'd have to ask a native speaker (reader?), though, huh.
You'll soon find out that non-joyo does not mean the kanji are used rarely or anything.
On the contrary, there are many non-joyo that are used more often than a lot of .. well, joyo ones.

Well either way, I'm still rather sure that the average native speaker(/reader) wont really have any trouble reading it.^^

That’s a really dope script. Although some look ridiculously different. Take a look:





Damn son. Sweet.

Looks like a seahorse out of water and … the hull of a ship. Pretty cool font.

I just did my reviews with this and got a really high score. I think it’s because it made me slow down and pay attention! Jitai is awesome! 

Hello WaniKani community! I have a little difficulty with the installation, indeed when I click on the install link I am redirected to a webpage saying “429 Too Many requests” and I cannot do anything. Does anyone know a way to fix this? Thank you in advance :smiley:

Edit : Just refreshed the page dozens of times and it worked! Sorry for the useless post.

I dare someone to get this font! http://www.freejapanesefont.com/suushiki-font-download/ 

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This is really cool. There’s hardly any kanji i can recognize anymore, but i firmly believe it will get better with time. Thanks for the script, works great.

Cinecaption doesn’t seem to be downloadable via the GitHub link list anymore… Nor does Aoyagi Kouzan or aquafont. :confused:

EskimoJo I accept your dare. :smiley:

Thank you so much for making this! My Japanese friends are always amazed at my handwriting because it is so neat and computer-font-like, and when they showed me their notes and such I could barely recognize anything that was written. So hopefully I’ll get better at recognizing handwriting and other “wild kanji” with this script. :smiley:

Dorotheian said... Cinecaption doesn't seem to be downloadable via the GitHub link list anymore... Nor does Aoyagi Kouzan or aquafont. :/

EskimoJo I accept your dare. :D
Oooh! Let's see a pic! But I accept no blame for turtles still living when they should be burnt to a crisp.
Dorotheian said... Cinecaption doesn't seem to be downloadable via the GitHub link list anymore... Nor does Aoyagi Kouzan or aquafont. :/
Thanks for the heads-up! I fixed the broken links. Turns out Cooltext switched over to HTTPS only - I changed to another site, though, since it looks more professional. Let's hope it sticks around!

I'm thinking about doing a little update. For one, I found some pretty sweet fonts on that new site I mentioned. Maybe it'd be a good idea to add some more calligraphy and neutral fonts, to get a broader and perhaps more balanced selection. The other thing I think might be good to add is touchscreen support, for inclusion in apps and stuff like that.

Actually, funny thing about that - the developer of Mobile AlliCrab, the most popular iOS WaniKani app at the moment, apparently added Jitai to the app! That's pretty sweet! What isn't as sweet is he did some modifications and added it completely without talking to me about it and barely giving credit. Hmm. Overall I'm just happy to have Jitai in the app, though. It's great to be able to use it on mobile too, even if it's just on iOS right now.
plantron said... Ouch. On the one hand, somebody likes your idea a lot. On the other hand, plagiarism!
Hahah, that's kind of how I feel! I'm really happy someone liked Jitai enough to put it in their app (the most popular app, even). Luckily it wasn't entirely plagiarism either - there is a little notice that says "original script by obskyr". Seeing as there's no link to this thread or my GitHub or anything, though, and as it says "original script" as if it's just based on Jitai (when in fact it's just been very slightly modified to switch from hovering to touching), I'm still a bit miffed.
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obskyr said...Hahah, that's kind of how I feel! I'm really happy someone liked Jitai enough to put it in their app (the most popular app, even). Luckily it wasn't entirely plagiarism either - there is a little notice that says "original script by obskyr". Seeing as there's no link to this thread or my GitHub or anything, though, and as it says "original script" as if it's just based on Jitai (when in fact it's just been very slightly modified to switch from hovering to touching), I'm still a bit miffed.
There are several links to this thread:
  1. In the OP of the thread where I introduce the app: /t/iOS-Mobile-AlliCrab-for-WaniKani/10065/1
  2. In the post where I announce the new version: /t/iOS-Mobile-AlliCrab-for-WaniKani/10065/171
  3. On the product page in the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/keitaiwanikani/id1031055291?ls=1&mt=8
  4. On the README for the app's GitHub project: https://github.com/cplaverty/KeitaiWaniKani
  5. Within the user script itself, where the full script header from your original script was left intact, where the @homepageURL still points to your original gist: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cplaverty/KeitaiWaniKani/master/KeitaiWaniKani/User%20Scripts/jita...
About the only place I didn't put a link to your topic was in the settings screen of the app where you can enable it, and that's something which has been on my mind to change but have not yet done so as I've been deciding the best way to go about it from a technical perspective.

As a developer, I take accusations of plagiarism very, very seriously.  I do not feel that at any point I sought to claim credit for the script from you.  Perhaps I should have spoken to you first about the modifications, and for that I apologise.  If you have wording you feel is more apppropriate than "original script" to provide attribution of the script to you, then I am very open to changing the wording that is there.
cplaverty said...[...]
Thanks for reaching out!

I think we have slightly different criteria for what constitutes "credit". For example, links are present here and there, but no name. The only place that truly matters (more than the others, at least) is within the app - most people will get the app without reading the forum thread, without visiting the GitHub repository, and certainly without reading the source code. Even then, I feel a link to the thread or similar would be preferable - which you did do in some of the documentation, but not within the app.

I do realize I haven't formally licensed Jitai, but... you know, that means it falls under normal copyright, etc. Despite that, I suppose I just would've appreciated hearing about it. I didn't call it plagiarism, and wouldn't either, but it did give me a bit of an iffy feeling. As mentioned, however, I'm mostly just happy you decided to include it. Thanks for that!

As for the wording, I'd definitely expect it to be something more along the lines of simply "by @obskyr". Of course, you did make a couple of modifications, but... they're fairly minor, and to me "original script by[...]" says it's a redone version of it.
obskyr said...
Thanks for reaching out!

I think we have slightly different criteria for what constitutes "credit". For example, links are present here and there, but no name. The only place that truly matters (more than the others, at least) is within the app - most people will get the app without reading the forum thread, without visiting the GitHub repository, and certainly without reading the source code. Even then, I feel a link to the thread or similar would be preferable - which you did do in some of the documentation, but not within the app.
You make a valid point that most people will only look at what's in the app, and will generally not read the App Store description or my forum thread.  Like I said, this was more down to the technical implementation of that view, rather than any attempt to mask the authorship of the script.  I will make it a priority to include a link to this thread in addition to your name within the app, and to include the names of the script authors to all the places where I currently have just links to forum threads.  Hopefully you feel this would be sufficient attribution, but please let me know if you disagree.

I do realize I haven't formally licensed Jitai, but... you know, that means it falls under normal copyright, etc. 
The link to the script on OpenUserJS (https://openuserjs.org/scripts/obskyr/Jitai) indicates the licence is MIT.  If it wasn't your intent to select this licence, then you may want to update that particular site.  When you have selected a licence, please let me know and I will ensure I am fully-compliant (or, where I can't or won't comply, cease distribution of the modified script).

I will also do the same for the other scripts I've included.  Admittedly, I have been lax on this point as I'm not including the licence details for any of the user scripts on my acknowledgements view like I do for the third-party libraries I'm using.

Despite that, I suppose I just would've appreciated hearing about it.
A fair point, which I will take on board for any future scripts I may include in the app.

I didn't call it plagiarism, and wouldn't either, but it did give me a bit of an iffy feeling. As mentioned, however, I'm mostly just happy you decided to include it. Thanks for that!
Your reply to Plantron ("[l]uckily it wasn't entirely plagiarism") gives a very strong implication to me, through the inclusion of the word "entirely", that you deemed it a form of plagiarism.

The public airing of this grievance has given me a bit of an "iffy feeling" and I wish you'd contacted me privately to resolve this.  A contact email is not only on my app's forum thread (which as I write this is still on the first page of this forum) but there is also a contact link on the same settings page where you can enable the script in the app.  You could have also contacted me through GitHub, since that's where I assume you saw the source for the modified version of the script in order to belittle the scope of my (admittedly minor) changes.

As for the wording, I'd definitely expect it to be something more along the lines of simply "by @obskyr". Of course, you did make a couple of modifications, but... they're fairly minor, and to me "original script by[...]" says it's a redone version of it.
I will make this change as a matter of priority.  The wording wasn't intended to give the impression your script was merely an inspiration and I had rewritten it, and I am happy to clear up any confusion on that front.  If you feel that way, you're likely not alone.  I will drop the word "original".
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@obskyr  aren’t you being a bit hypocritical? Your userscript is based on another userscript (which isn’t entirely plagiarism I suppose).  @cplaverty actually did more to give you credit than you have to @wind, so why are you expecting more?