Sunday Dec 14, 2025
Yi Si Year, Wu Zi Month, Ding Si Day
 

In the end, Leo told his client about the licensing issue. They agreed to cover the commercial font purchase, and Leo delivered the project using the genuine Hiragino Sans W1—legally, safely, and with no malware.

If your budget is zero and you aren't on a Mac, these open-source fonts provide a similar minimalist Japanese aesthetic:

Leo was a freelance UI designer in Osaka, working on a prestigious app redesign for a Kyoto-based client. The client’s brand guidelines specified for all Japanese interface text—clean, elegant, with just the right weight for readability on Retina displays.