Colours are an important part of Japanese culture. Red ink for personal seals, many shades of black – from sumi (ink black) to makkuro (pitch black), purple (murasaki) – for centuries reserved for Imperial Family and high-level officials – it was forbidden for ordinary people to wear purple! Importance of colours is reflected in the language itself – names for many shades, names of colours often having another meaning, different parts of speech (i-adjectives and na-adjectives) for different groups of colours. Not to mention a vast array of colours offered by Sailor in their Sailor Ink Studio line 😉
Below a short list of colours names used on this website, Instagram profile and YouTube channel.
BLACK
- kuro / kuroi or burakku
Other shades:
- sumi-iro – ink black
- mureba-iro – jet black
- kuroguro – deep black
- makkuro – pitch black
- karasuba-iro – glossy black
- yamishonin – darkness black
- and moste extreme yakenohara no karasu – blacker than black, literally: a crow on burned field
WHITE
- shiro / shiroi
Other shades:- sayu – plain hot water
- hakushi – blank/white paper
- mashiro – pure white
- zō-ge iro – ivory-white
RED
- aka / akai or ni-iro
Other shades: - anko!shoku) – dark red
- senkō) / usuniku – light red
- kōbai-iro – red plum coloured
- sakura-iro – cherry blossom coloured
- momo-iro – peach- coloured (in pink spectrum too)
YELLOW
- ki-iro / shoku / kōshoku – yellow
Other shades:- asagi / kuwa-iro – light yellow
- ōen / kōen – chrome yellow
- kigarachya – bluish yellow
- kuchiba-iro – yellow-brown
BLUE-GREEN
- ao / ao-iro – blue/green – this area of the spectrum is most confusing for English speakers. Blue, teal, green are in the spectrum of ao.
- buryu – blue
Other shades:- mizudori – light blue (shade of ao, literally – water color)
- nōkon – dark blue
- kon-iro – deep blue
- konshō – navy blue
- sora-iro – sky-blue
GREEN
- midori – green
Other shades: - hekishoku – green; emerald
- kimidori / asamidori – light green
- kuchi-iro / hisui-iro – dark green
BROWN
- chairo / kasshoku – brown (literally : tea colour)
Other shades: - kurocha-iro – deep brown
- ankashoku dark brown
- kitsune-iro – light brown (lit: fox brown)
PINK
- momoiro – pink (also “borrowed” – pinku)
Other shades: - notō – deep pink
- taikō – light pink
OTHER
- orange – orenji-iro
- grey – haiiro
- purple – murasaki (also violet – in Japanese there is no distinction, as in many other languages)
- dark purple – komurasaki
- light purple – achimurasaki
- gold – kin-iro
- silver – gin-iro
