Zen Maru Gothic

sans-serif · Designed by Yoshimichi Ohira

Zen Maru Gothic: A quick movement of the enemy will jeopardize five gunboats

Available weights

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Just want to use the font? Click "Get this font on Google Fonts" to download it or add it directly to a document, design tool (like Canva or Photoshop), or your computer's font list.

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Zen Maru Gothic is a rounded sans-serif typeface designed primarily for Japanese text but with full Latin character support. Its defining feature is the softened, circular terminals on letterforms, which give it a gentle and approachable quality without tipping into childishness. The strokes maintain a consistent weight that reads as friendly and calm rather than bold or assertive. It sits somewhere between a functional UI font and a warm display face, making it versatile across contexts where you want clarity without coldness.

This font works well for children's education platforms or family-oriented apps where a softer tone builds trust without sacrificing legibility. It is also a solid choice for wellness, lifestyle, or food brands that want to feel accessible and unpretentious rather than clinical or corporate. In bilingual Japanese-English digital products, Zen Maru Gothic is particularly practical because it handles both scripts with visual consistency, reducing the friction that comes from mixing separate typefaces for each language.

Best suited for: Children's apps, wellness platforms, bilingual Japanese-English interfaces, and family-oriented digital products where approachable clarity and visual warmth enhance user trust.

Design considerations: The rounded terminals and consistent stroke weight create a distinctly soft aesthetic that remains highly legible across both Japanese and Latin scripts. Five weight options from 300 to 900 support flexible typographic hierarchies while maintaining the typeface's characteristic gentle quality throughout the range.

Pairing guidance: Pair Zen Maru Gothic with Noto Serif JP to introduce serif contrast for body text or editorial contexts, Source Sans 3 to maintain sans-serif consistency with expanded stylistic range and italics for emphasis, or DM Mono to anchor technical content, code blocks, or data-heavy sections with monospace precision.

Pairs well with

Noto Serif JP Source Sans 3 DM Mono

Zen Maru Gothic at a glance

Designer

Yoshimichi Ohira

License

SIL Open Font License 1.1

Added to Google Fonts

August 2021

Last updated

June 2025

Styles

5 (5 weights)

Classification

Sans Serif · Display

Character sets

5

Distributed via

Google Fonts

All 5 Zen Maru Gothic styles

Weight Name Upright
300 Light Aa Bb Gg 123
400 Regular Aa Bb Gg 123
500 Medium Aa Bb Gg 123
700 Bold Aa Bb Gg 123
900 Black Aa Bb Gg 123

Zen Maru Gothic character map

Uppercase

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Lowercase

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Numbers and punctuation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ! ? & @ # % $ € £ ( ) [ ] { } . , : ; " ' - / * + =

Cyrillic (sample)

А Б В Г Д Е Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я а б в г д е ж з и й к л м н

Greek (sample)

Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ

Japanese (sample)

あ い う え お か き く け こ ア イ ウ エ オ カ キ ク ケ コ 日 本 語 文 字

Latin Extended (sample)

Ā Ă Ą Ć Č Ď Đ Ē Ę Ě Ğ Ī Į İ Ĺ Ľ Ł Ń Ň Ő Œ Ř Ś Ş Š Ť Ů Ű Ź Ż Ž

Which languages does Zen Maru Gothic support?

Zen Maru Gothic includes 5 character sets:

  • Cyrillic: Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian and other Cyrillic-script languages
  • Greek: modern Greek
  • Japanese: Japanese kana and kanji
  • Latin: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and other Western European languages
  • Latin Extended: Central and Eastern European languages such as Polish, Czech, Turkish, Romanian and Hungarian

Can I use Zen Maru Gothic commercially?

Yes, it's free for personal and commercial use. Zen Maru Gothic is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. You can use it in logos, websites, apps, videos, printed products and merchandise without paying or asking permission. The one thing you can't do is sell the font file on its own.

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Zen Maru Gothic FAQ

Is Zen Maru Gothic free for commercial use?

Yes. Zen Maru Gothic is licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, so you can use it in commercial projects, including logos, client work and products you sell.

Which weights does Zen Maru Gothic include?

Zen Maru Gothic includes 5 weights, from Light (300) to Black (900). There are no italic styles.

Does Zen Maru Gothic support Cyrillic?

Yes. Zen Maru Gothic includes Cyrillic characters, so it works for Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Serbian text. It also supports Greek, Japanese, Latin and Latin Extended.

Who designed Zen Maru Gothic?

Zen Maru Gothic was designed by Yoshimichi Ohira. It was added to Google Fonts in August 2021.