Japanese typeface personalities: Are typeface personalities consistent across culture?

Recent studies have correlated specific typeface features (variety versus contrast versus pattern) to specific emotional parameters (amusement versus agitation versus focus). These studies provide a systematic explanation for analyzing typeface features and emotional parameters. However, these studies have focused on Roman typefaces. Much of the research on non-Roman typefaces do not provide a systematic explanation or even consistent parameters, “serif” typefaces generally generate a “classical”, “elegant”, “staid” or “sleek” feelings, and are generally preferred by younger participants, “sans-serif” typefaces are generally preferred by older participants, and “narrow” typefaces generally generate “modern“, ”exciting” and “positive” feelings. While these findings are generally useful, no explanation is provided for why specific typeface forms produce specific emotion effects. This paper will report the results of an empirical study on the immediate emotional response of 50 participants to a variety of Japanese typefaces. The results support the work of previous studies on Roman typefaces and show that the same typeface features (variety versus contrast versus pattern) produce the same emotional responses (amusement versus agitation versus focus) in both Roman and non-Roman typefaces.