Media
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Description
Renders Han (Chinese/Japanese) characters in a random handwriting font while keeping Latin text unchanged. From JinbuLabs, makers of JinbuPal. Learning Mandarin or Cantonese? Try JinbuPal free at JinbuPal.com HanKan Handwriting turns the Chinese and Japanese text on any web page into real handwriting. Reading the same printed Song or Mincho typeface everywhere makes it easy to freeze up the moment you meet a handwritten menu, a note, or a sign. This extension puts handwritten forms in front of you during ordinary browsing, so the shapes stop being unfamiliar. HOW IT WORKS Click the toolbar icon on any page with Chinese or Japanese text. A green ON badge appears, and the Chinese/Japanese characters on that page are re-rendered in a handwriting font chosen at random from the bundled set. Click again to disable the extension and revert back to the original font. AUTOMATIC LANGUAGE DETECTION The extension reads the page's lang attribute and, if that is missing or unhelpful, scans the body text, then picks a matching font pool: • Japanese (lang="ja", or Hiragana/Katakana found in the text) — Japanese brush fonts, applied to Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana alike • Simplified Chinese (everything else) — Simplified handwriting fonts • Traditional Chinese (lang="zh-TW" / "zh-HK" / "zh-Hant", or Traditional-only characters found) — Traditional handwriting fonts HANDWRITING FONTS The extension allows for rendering in 14 different handwritten fonts — seven (7) Simplified Chinese, one (1) Traditional Chinese, and six (6) Japanese, including 衡山毛筆フォント (Kouzan brush, both 行書 and 草書), 青柳疎石, があた草書, 刘建毛草, 龙藏, 志莽行, 千图笔锋手写体 and more. Each usage is picked at randomly, so you see a range of hands rather than one style over and over. PAIR IT WITH A HOVER DICTIONARY Handwriting practice is most effective when you can look up characters you are unable to read. To accomplish this, install a pop-up dictionary extension to use in tandem with HanKan Handwriting. Recommended pop-up dictionaries: • Chinese — Zhongwen: Chinese-English Dictionary • Japanese — rikaikun Hovering for pop-up dictionary usage works normally with handwriting switched on. Easily hover over characters you cannot read to see them rendered in a more traditional computer font. WHAT IT DOES NOT DO • No accounts, no sign-in, no analytics, no tracking • No network requests of any kind — every font is bundled in the extension package and loaded locally • Nothing you browse, type or read ever leaves your machine • Latin letters, numbers and punctuation are never restyled — the fonts are scoped by Unicode range, so the page's own typography still handles them GOOD FOR • Learners of Chinese or Japanese building fluency with handwritten forms • Calligraphy and typography enthusiasts • Anyone who finds printed CJK text visually monotonous NOTES AND LIMITATIONS • The extension acts on a tab after you click the icon on it. It does not request permission to read every site you visit in the background.