The similarity between "to enter (入)" and "number 8 (八)" confuses me. What's
the extra part on top of 八?
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2022-06-16T06:17:06.907
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2022-06-16T18:46:56.383
2022-06-16T18:46:56.383
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question
kanji stroke-type
Why does 八 have an extra thing on top?
Not all fonts have that horizontal thing. Here are examples of the same 八
rendered with various fonts installed on my PC:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/utrmP.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/utrmP.png)

Basically, that horizontal bar is something similar to
[serifs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serif) in Latin fonts. When you write
kanji by hand, you should not try to reproduce it. When in doubt, find a
[教科書体](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/18782/5010) font (blue).

Related:

  * [Are hiragana letters written with their small nuances?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/57262/5010)
  * [How often do single dots stick to the top of kanji?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/33687/5010)
  * [Which kanji writing should i follow when writing on paper, digital or non-digital?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/52573/5010)
  * [Is there a reason why the 濁点【だくてん】（ ﾞ）are placed below the stroke at ぐ and で as opposed to the other hiragana characters?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/69005/5010)
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2022-06-16T07:58:18.773
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2022-06-16T07:58:18.773
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answer
It is a design typically used for the typeface called Minchotai (roughly
equivalent to Latin serif fonts). Basically it is designed so that glyphs are
closer to those written with brushes.

In typography it seems to be called 八屋根 (hachi yane), literally "eight roof".
Quoting the image and text from [here](https://okoneya.jp/font/genei-
koburimin.html):

[![fude](https://i.stack.imgur.com/BgfZI.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/BgfZI.png)

> 右下の6文字が「八屋根」と呼ばれる要素で、「八」や「入」などの右払いの入りに付く横画です。
>
> Translation: The 6 characters on the bottom right have the element called
> "hachi yane", which represents the starting of "migi barai" strokes (strokes
> going diagonally from left to right) as seen in 八 and 入.
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2022-06-16T09:40:25.790
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answer