Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro is a commercial Japanese typeface and is not available on Google Fonts. It is a proprietary font developed by SCREEN Graphic Solutions and is notably bundled with macOS.
Below is a report on its availability, licensing, and the best open-source alternatives available via Google Fonts. 1. Availability & Licensing
Not on Google Fonts: You cannot find this specific font in the Google Fonts library.
Bundled with macOS: It is a standard system font for Mac users.
Commercial License: To use it on Windows or for specific commercial web projects, you must purchase a license through vendors like Morisawa Fonts or Adobe Fonts. hiragino kaku gothic pro google font
Adobe Fonts: Subscribers can access Hiragino Kaku Gothic ProN (W3 and W6 weights) for both personal and commercial use. 2. Best Google Font Alternatives
If you need a free, open-source Japanese "Gothic" (sans-serif) font that mimics the clean, contemporary feel of Hiragino, use these alternatives from Google Fonts: Zen Kaku Gothic Antique - Google Fonts
Here’s a deep technical feature breakdown of Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro in relation to Google Fonts.
There are three primary reasons:
1. Licensing Restrictions Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro is a commercial font. SCREEN Holdings licenses it for use. Google Fonts, by contrast, hosts only open-source or freely licensed fonts (like Open Sans, Roboto, or Noto Fonts). Including a proprietary font would violate licensing agreements and require complex royalty payments.
2. File Size Constraints A complete Japanese font file (including all Kanji) is massive—often 2 MB to 8 MB per weight, compared to 50 KB for a Latin font. Google Fonts rarely hosts CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) fonts due to bandwidth and performance concerns. While Google does host Noto Sans JP (a Japanese font), it is the exception, not the rule.
3. OS Dependency
Because Hiragino is a system font on Apple devices, Google sees no need to host it. Web designers are expected to use font-family CSS fallbacks to call the local version installed on a user’s computer.
Roboto is not a Japanese font, but it pairs beautifully with Hiragino fallbacks. Many modern Japanese sites use Roboto for the Latin (English) characters while using a system Japanese font for the rest. Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro is a commercial Japanese
Best practice mix:
body
font-family: "Roboto", "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", "Noto Sans JP", sans-serif;
The short answer is: No.
Despite common misconceptions, Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro is not a Google Font.
Because Hiragino is a proprietary font owned by Screen Holdings and licensed exclusively to Apple for system use, it cannot be included in the Google Fonts library. Google Fonts requires fonts to be released under open-source licenses (such as SIL OFL or Apache), which allows developers to use them freely on the web. Is it on Google Fonts
If you are building a website and want to use a free, open-source Japanese sans-serif, you cannot legally use Hiragino.