Fix Missing Japanese Font Glyphs

Fix Missing Japanese Font Glyphs | Generated by AI

Home 2025.08

The errors you’re encountering indicate that the font FandolSong (both Regular and Bold variants) used in your LaTeX document does not contain the necessary glyphs for certain Japanese characters, such as ー (U+30FC, Katakana-Hiragana Prolonged Sound Mark), 専 (U+5C02), 証 (U+8A3C), and 発 (U+767A). This is causing XeLaTeX to report “Missing character” errors when compiling your document, likely resume-ja.tex or a related file in latex/ja/resume-ja/.

The FandolSong font is primarily designed for Chinese text and lacks full support for Japanese characters, which explains the missing glyphs. To resolve this, you need to switch to a font that supports Japanese characters, such as Noto Sans CJK JP or IPAGothic, as recommended previously. Below, I’ll guide you through fixing the issue by updating your font configuration and ensuring compatibility with your Japanese-translated resume.

Why This Happens

Font Limitation: FandolSong is a Chinese font included in TeX Live for CJK typesetting but does not include all Japanese characters, especially katakana (ー) and common kanji used in Japanese.
XeLaTeX and xeCJK: Your document likely uses the xeCJK package, which relies on the specified CJK font (FandolSong in this case) for Japanese text. When glyphs are missing, XeLaTeX logs errors and may omit the characters in the output PDF.
Translated Section: Since you’re translating sections like blogposts.tex to Japanese, the translated text contains Japanese characters that FandolSong cannot render.

Solution: Change the CJK Font

You need to update your LaTeX document’s font configuration to use a Japanese-compatible font. Since your previous message indicated a Linux system and a font configuration block, I’ll assume you’re using XeLaTeX with xeCJK and the ifthenelse structure for font selection.

Step 1: Install a Japanese-Compatible Font

Ensure a font with Japanese support is installed on your Linux system. The recommended font is Noto Sans CJK JP, which is widely available and supports all necessary Japanese glyphs.

To install Noto Sans CJK JP on Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt-get install fonts-noto-cjk

On Fedora:

sudo dnf install google-noto-cjk-fonts

On Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S noto-fonts-cjk

Alternatively, you can use IPAGothic or IPAexGothic:

sudo apt-get install fonts-ipaexfont

Verify the font is installed:

fc-list :lang=ja | grep Noto

You should see entries like Noto Sans CJK JP or Noto Serif CJK JP. If using IPA fonts:

fc-list :lang=ja | grep IPA

Step 2: Update LaTeX Font Configuration

Modify the font configuration in your LaTeX document (likely resume-ja.tex or a shared preamble file) to use a Japanese-compatible font. Based on your earlier font setup, here’s how to update the configuration:

\ifthenelse{\equal{\fontsystem}{linux}}{
    % Linux fonts
    \setCJKmainfont{Noto Sans CJK JP} % Main font for Japanese
    \setCJKsansfont{Noto Sans CJK JP} % Sans-serif font for Japanese
    \setCJKmonofont{Noto Sans Mono CJK JP} % Monospace font for Japanese
    \setmainfont{Liberation Serif} % English font
}

If Noto Sans Mono CJK JP is unavailable, you can use Source Code Pro or DejaVu Sans Mono for non-CJK monospace text, but ensure Japanese code blocks use a CJK font:

\setCJKmonofont{Noto Sans CJK JP}

If you prefer IPAGothic:

\ifthenelse{\equal{\fontsystem}{linux}}{
    \setCJKmainfont{IPAexGothic}
    \setCJKsansfont{IPAexGothic}
    \setCJKmonofont{IPAexMincho} % Or Noto Sans CJK JP for monospace
    \setmainfont{Liberation Serif}
}

Step 3: Verify xeCJK Usage

Ensure your LaTeX document uses the xeCJK package and applies the font settings correctly. A minimal example for resume-ja.tex might look like:

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{xeCJK}
\usepackage{ifthenelse}

% Font system detection
\newcommand{\fontsystem}{linux}

\ifthenelse{\equal{\fontsystem}{linux}}{
    \setCJKmainfont{Noto Sans CJK JP}
    \setCJKsansfont{Noto Sans CJK JP}
    \setCJKmonofont{Noto Sans Mono CJK JP}
    \setmainfont{Liberation Serif}
}

\begin{document}

% Japanese text from blogposts.tex
\section{ブログ投稿}
こんにちは、私の名前は李智维です。最新の技術に関する記事を書いています。

% English text
\section{Introduction}
Hello, my name is Zhiwei Li.

\end{document}

If your resume uses a template like awesome-cv, ensure the preamble includes xeCJK and the font settings above. For example, in awesome-cv.cls or resume-ja.tex, add:

\RequirePackage{xeCJK}
\ifthenelse{\equal{\fontsystem}{linux}}{
    \setCJKmainfont{Noto Sans CJK JP}
    \setCJKsansfont{Noto Sans CJK JP}
    \setCJKmonofont{Noto Sans Mono CJK JP}
    \setmainfont{Liberation Serif}
}

Step 4: Recompile the Document

Navigate to the Japanese resume directory and recompile:

cd latex/ja/resume-ja
xelatex resume-ja.tex

Check the log file (resume-ja.log) for “Missing character” errors. If the font is set correctly, these errors should disappear, and the PDF should display Japanese characters like ー, 専, 証, and 発 correctly.

Step 5: Debug if Errors Persist

If you still see “Missing character” errors:

Confirm Font Name: Ensure the font name matches exactly as listed in fc-list. For example, some systems list Noto Sans CJK JP Regular instead of Noto Sans CJK JP. Adjust the LaTeX configuration:
```
\setCJKmainfont{Noto Sans CJK JP Regular}
```
Check xeCJK Configuration: Ensure xeCJK is loaded before font settings and that no other package overrides the CJK font. For example, avoid loading fontspec with conflicting settings.

Test Minimal Document: Create a minimal LaTeX file with Japanese text to isolate the issue:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xeCJK}
\setCJKmainfont{Noto Sans CJK JP}
\begin{document}
こんにちは、専ー証発
\end{document}

Compile with xelatex and check for errors.

Fallback Font: If Noto Sans CJK JP doesn’t work, try Source Han Sans JP or IPAexGothic. List available fonts with fc-list :lang=ja and update the configuration accordingly.

Step 6: Update Translated Section

Since you’re using the Python script to translate sections like blogposts.tex, ensure the translated file (latex/ja/resume-ja/blogposts.tex) is included in resume-ja.tex via \input{blogposts}. The script you provided already replaces the file correctly, so no changes are needed there. Just re-run the translation if necessary:

python translate_section.py --section blogposts.tex --lang ja --kind resume

Then recompile resume-ja.tex to incorporate the updated section.

Additional Notes

Font Weights: Noto Sans CJK JP supports multiple weights (Regular, Bold, etc.), so \textbf{} should work for Japanese text. If using IPAexGothic, ensure the bold variant (IPAexGothic Bold) is available or adjust the configuration.
Template Compatibility: If you’re using a template like awesome-cv, check if it overrides font settings in the .cls file. You may need to apply the xeCJK settings in the main document (resume-ja.tex) instead.
PDF Output: Inspect the generated PDF to ensure Japanese characters render correctly. If characters appear as boxes, the font is still incorrect or not embedded properly.
System Font Cache: After installing new fonts, update the font cache:
```
fc-cache -fv
```

Example Output

After applying the fix, your blogposts.tex in latex/ja/resume-ja/ might contain Japanese text like:

\section{ブログ投稿}
\item 技術ブログ: 最新のAI技術について書いています。専門的な内容をわかりやすく説明します。

When compiled with Noto Sans CJK JP, characters like ー, 専, 証, and 発 should render correctly in the PDF.

If you encounter further errors or need help with a specific part of the resume template, please share the relevant LaTeX code (e.g., the preamble of resume-ja.tex or the template’s font settings), and I can provide a more targeted fix!

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