Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro Google Font

If you like the "rounded" version of Hiragino (Hiragino Maru Gothic), this is your winner. It is open-source and looks fantastic for blogs and creative sites.

Design and Readability Evaluation of "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro"–Style Open Web Font for Multilingual Interfaces hiragino kaku gothic pro google font

Why it works: The "Noto" font family was designed by Google specifically to eliminate "tofu" (the blank boxes you see when a character is missing). For Japanese, Noto Sans JP is the closest open-source equivalent to Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro. If you like the "rounded" version of Hiragino

How to use it:

<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Noto+Sans+JP:wght@100..900&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">

body 
  font-family: 'Noto Sans JP', sans-serif;

Use the Google Font as the main source, but keep Hiragino as a local fallback for Apple users (since it loads instantly without an HTTP request). How to use it: <link href="https://fonts

body 
  font-family: "Zen Kaku Gothic New", "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", "Hiragino Sans", "Noto Sans JP", "Meiryo", "Yu Gothic", sans-serif;

While Hiragino is Kaku (square), M PLUS is Maru (rounded). If you cannot have the square sharpness, this rounded alternative provides a softer, friendly feel. It is available on Google Fonts and includes full Japanese support.