A Japanese monospace font should not be selected from its name or popularity alone. Use the same text at the same size and line spacing, then inspect punctuation, brackets, full-width spaces, ASCII, and the baseline between Japanese and Latin characters.
STUDIO-551 is blocked. A 750-character comparison sample was created and read back, but the CLI used for the run had no font-family control. The recorded result was font_family_changed=false. No two-font comparison was performed, and no winner was selected.
Start with a 750-character sample and a restore point
The sample contains 600 Japanese characters, 120 ASCII characters, ten full-width spaces, ten brackets, and ten punctuation marks, for a total of 750 characters. Its starting layout is pattern=h2. The purpose is not literary quality; it is to keep every shape to be inspected at a known position.
Before comparing fonts, export the current settings or record the body font, text size, line spacing, and zoom. That record is the return point. If a candidate makes the manuscript harder to inspect, or the changed setting becomes unclear, restore the baseline instead of adjusting several values from memory.
Know what monospace can and cannot solve
Monospace can help expose full-width indentation, align ASCII-heavy notes, and make positional differences easier to notice. It does not automatically make long Japanese prose comfortable to read, and it does not guarantee that an EPUB or retailer will display the same typeface.
For editing, inspect whether punctuation disappears near line edges, opening and closing brackets remain distinct, full-width spaces are visible, and Latin characters appear to float above or below the Japanese baseline. Record concrete misses rather than one vague “readability” score.
Compare two candidates under one controlled condition
Choose two Japanese monospace fonts that are actually installed on the Mac. Check their names and usage terms separately; do not infer commercial permission from installation alone. Keep text size, line spacing, and zoom fixed, changing only the font family.
With candidate A, inspect the ten punctuation marks, ten brackets, ten full-width spaces, 120 ASCII characters, and mixed-script baseline. Repeat the same sequence with candidate B. Open another document and return to the sample once, verifying that the same judgment can be reproduced.
A useful note says “missed two full-width spaces” or “had to recheck one closing bracket,” not merely “looks good.” Different writing tasks can favor different candidates, so this guide does not publish a universal first-place font.
What Stage 4 did and did not verify
The title-specific run used six operations. It created the 750-character sample, read its components, and confirmed pattern=h2. The font family did not change: font_family_changed=false.
There is therefore no observed comparison for punctuation, spaces, ASCII, or baseline alignment. Visual readability, screenshot evidence, and consistency across displays were also outside the run. The central comparison remains unperformed, so the status stays blocked.
Separate Rune Studio’s public feature from the run
Rune Studio’s public documentation says its settings can adjust the body font, body and interface text sizes, and line spacing. That is a Stage 3 feature statement. It is not evidence that this CLI run changed a font.
The next desktop test should save the baseline, switch between two candidates, use the same 750-character sample and fixed display values, and confirm that the baseline can be restored. Font licensing, print composition, embedded EPUB or KDP typography, and identical rendering on every display remain separate external questions.
The correct conclusion is “not selected yet”
The sample and starting layout are ready, but the actual font comparison is not. Keep the selection open until two candidates have been inspected against all ten punctuation marks, ten brackets, ten full-width spaces, 120 ASCII characters, and the mixed-script baseline.
STUDIO-548 and STUDIO-555 concern highlighted terms, STUDIO-557 concerns raw character counting, and STUDIO-491 concerns horizontal preview before KDP upload. This article is limited to the editing font. See the Rune Studio product page for the current settings scope.
