The follow link leads to an article about Japanese Typography, and is from the site Smashing Magazine, and is written by Shoko Mugikura, who is a Japanese designer based in Berlin. Alongside working on book design projects, she is running the type design studio Just Another Foundry

Japanese, A Beautifully Complex Writing System

The article is a quick introduction into the complexity of the Japanese Typography and how it differs from the “western” style. The article starts out with introducing the reader to the Kanji, Katakana, and Hiragana alphabet, and the two writing orientations, and goes on to show how the different orientations are used in everything from books and newspapers, to Metro stations information boards, post cards, and on-screen media.

If you have even a slight interest in layouts and typography, or are just interested in how what ways Japanese might be used, this article is for you. And for the rest: have a read, maybe it makes you think of that station map in the subway in a different way next time you see it ^_^

Edit:

Shortly after posting about this article, I found another article relating to Japanese Typeface on GaijinPot.

Choosing a Japanese Typeface for your Hanko

A Hanko is your personal stamp, and it’s used in everything from opening bank-accounts, to renting apartments. Sooner or later you might need to design your own. This article brings up the issue of Typeface (or Font, if you will), and what messages different styles might give to others.