Quick answer: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) slides use the same family of script blocks, but they are not the same language, and the font has to match. A Chinese font applied to Japanese text, or a Japanese font applied to Korean, renders the wrong letterforms.

The language-to-font mapping

The common system fonts that travel with the operating system:

Language Font
Japanese Yu Gothic
Korean Malgun Gothic
Simplified Chinese Microsoft YaHei
Traditional Chinese SimSun

Using the system fonts avoids the substitution on a machine without a custom font.

Why one CJK font is not enough

The scripts share some characters, but the shapes differ by language. A font built for one language applies its letterforms to the shared characters, and text in another language reads as subtly wrong. This is not a minor typographic issue; a native reader notices immediately.

The common problems

  • Wrong language font. The Chinese text is set in the Japanese font.
  • Font substitution. The presenting machine lacks the CJK font and falls back to a generic one.
  • Mixed scripts. A slide with both Japanese and Latin text needs two fonts that work together.
  • Line breaks. CJK line wrapping differs from Latin; the line breaks shift.
  • Large font files. Embedding a CJK font can bloat the file.

The export

  • Use the language-specific font rather than one shared CJK font.
  • Test the deck on the presenting machine, or use a system font.
  • Embed the font when the license allows, or send the PDF as the read-only fallback.
  • The general font embedding guide and the font substitution guide apply.

Localized decks

A multilingual deck is usually a separate file per language rather than one file with mixed text. The localization process is the same as for multilingual social posts: translate the content, set the correct font, and verify against a native speaker.

The text sizes

CJK characters occupy the full em box, and the text is visually denser than Latin. The same word count takes more space visually. The headline rules from the word-count guide still apply, with more room for the larger glyphs.

Frequently asked questions

Can one font cover all three? Some fonts cover a wide range, but the letterforms are still language-specific; the correct per-language font is the safe choice. Why does the Japanese text look wrong in the Chinese font? The shared glyphs use different letterforms in the two languages. Should I embed the CJK font? It can be large; the system font is the reliable alternative, and the PDF is the read-only fallback. How is the text translated? The content is localized into the target language and then set in the language's font.

Pick the font for the language, not for the script block, and check the deck on the machine that presents it.