diff --git a/pc98.h b/pc98.h
index b08c94ed..60c3f3b7 100644
--- a/pc98.h
+++ b/pc98.h
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ typedef unsigned int utram_y_t;
 #define GLYPH_HALF_W 8
 #define GLYPH_FULL_W 16
 #define GLYPH_H 16
+#define GLYPH_HALF_H 8
 
 #define shiftjis_w(literal) \
 	((sizeof(literal) - 1) * GLYPH_HALF_W)
diff --git a/platform/x86real/pc98/font.cpp b/platform/x86real/pc98/font.cpp
index 22c58a91..aedb1b66 100644
--- a/platform/x86real/pc98/font.cpp
+++ b/platform/x86real/pc98/font.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,27 @@
 //   in the PC-98HA BIOS).
 // • Emulators directly implement it in native code.
 
+void font_read(font_glyph_t& glyph, jis_t jis)
+{
+	_BX = FP_SEG(&glyph);
+	_CX = FP_OFF(&glyph);
+	_DX = jis;
+	_AH = 0x14;
+	geninterrupt(0x18);
+	glyph.tag.w *= GLYPH_HALF_W;
+	glyph.tag.h *= GLYPH_HALF_H;
+}
+
+void font_read(font_glyph_ank_8x8_t& glyph, ank_t ank)
+{
+	font_read(reinterpret_cast<font_glyph_t &>(glyph), static_cast<jis_t>(ank));
+}
+
+void font_read(font_glyph_ank_8x16_t& glyph, ank_t ank)
+{
+	font_read(reinterpret_cast<font_glyph_t &>(glyph), (0x8000 + ank));
+}
+
 void font_gaiji_write(
 	const dot_rect_t(GLYPH_FULL_W, GLYPH_H)* gaiji,
 	uint16_t count,
diff --git a/platform/x86real/pc98/font.hpp b/platform/x86real/pc98/font.hpp
index 4159beda..357f07eb 100644
--- a/platform/x86real/pc98/font.hpp
+++ b/platform/x86real/pc98/font.hpp
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 // PC-98 font ROM access
 // ---------------------
 
-// Structure returned by INT 18h, AH=14h. The amount of bytes returned depends
-// on the type of glyph (8×8, 8×16, or 16×16) as indicated by its codepoint,
-// so make sure to allocate the correct subclass for it.
+// Indicates the size of the glyph (8×8, 8×16, or 16×16), and by extension the
+// amount of bytes returned from font_read().
 struct font_glyph_header_t {
-	uint8_t tram_w;
-	uint8_t h_divided_by_8;
+	uint8_t h; // in pixels
+	uint8_t w; // in pixels
+};
+
+struct font_glyph_ank_8x8_t : public font_glyph_header_t {
+	dot_rect_t(GLYPH_HALF_W, GLYPH_HALF_H) dots;
 };
 
 struct font_glyph_ank_8x16_t : public font_glyph_header_t {
@@ -17,6 +20,24 @@ struct font_glyph_kanji_t : public font_glyph_header_t {
 	dot_rect_t(GLYPH_FULL_W, GLYPH_H) dots;
 };
 
+// Tagged union for all possible glyph sizes returned from font_read().
+struct font_glyph_t {
+	font_glyph_header_t tag;
+	union {
+		dot_rect_t(GLYPH_HALF_W, GLYPH_HALF_H) ank_8x8;
+		dot_rect_t(GLYPH_HALF_W, GLYPH_H) ank_8x16;
+		dot_rect_t(GLYPH_FULL_W, GLYPH_H) kanji;
+	};
+};
+
+// Reads the font ROM glyph for the given JIS codepoint.
+void font_read(font_glyph_t& glyph, jis_t jis);
+
+// Strongly-typed, memory-conserving wrappers around font_read() for smaller
+// glyphs.
+void font_read(font_glyph_ank_8x8_t& glyph, ank_t ank);
+void font_read(font_glyph_ank_8x16_t& glyph, ank_t ank);
+
 // Writes user-defined glyphs to the given offset inside the PC-98 gaiji RAM.
 // The 256 possible gaiji IDs are mapped onto JIS X 0208 codepoints as follows:
 //
diff --git a/shiftjis.hpp b/shiftjis.hpp
index b5d2e784..4ae30e12 100644
--- a/shiftjis.hpp
+++ b/shiftjis.hpp
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+// 1-byte JIS X 0201 codepoint (ASCII, numeric, or halfwidth katakana).
+typedef uint8_t ank_t;
+
 // 2-byte JIS X 0208 codepoint.
 typedef uint16_t jis_t;