fontconfig 

fc-list
  • query settings
fc-match --verbose sans
  • edit ~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "urn:fontconfig:fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>
  <alias>
    <family>serif</family>
    <prefer>
      <family>Noto Serif</family>
      <family>IPAMincho</family>
    </prefer>
  </alias>

  <alias>
    <family>sans-serif</family>
    <prefer>
      <family>Noto Sans</family>
      <family>IPAGothic</family>
    </prefer>
  </alias>

  <alias>
    <family>monospace</family>
    <prefer>
      <family>Noto Sans Mono</family>
      <family>IPAGothic</family>
    </prefer>
  </alias>
</fontconfig>

japanese

firefox japanese font is wrong

  • differences in kanji for chinese and japanese, e.g. "語" in 日本語, "直" in 直す
  • chinese ver., japanese ver.
  • firefox displays chinese version despite setting japanese fonts
  • enter about:config
  • change font.cjk_pref_fallback_order from zh-cn,zh-hk,zh-tw,ja,ko to ja,zh-cn,zh-hk,zh-tw,ko
  • also, default western font is serif instead of sans-serif for some reason, makes japanese also serif, e.g. in myanimelist
  • change font.default.x-western from serif to sans-serif
  • or just change in normal settings page about:preferences, "General" -> "Fonts" -> "Fonts for" select Latin, "Proportional" select "Sans Serif"

how to tell Noto Sans CJK JP and IPAGothic apart

  • katakana "ta": タ
    • ipa horizontal line precisely connects the two parallel lines
    • noto looks kind of like a ヌ, doesn't touch left and juts past right