English is characterized as having 11 basic color words: black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, pink, grey, brown, orange, and purple. Japanese has unique words for all of these colors as well, but as you will see below, two of these colors come from English, indicating that the traditional means of referring to those colors must be different. You will also notice that the majority of the colors have the word 色 in them. This is a reflection of how those words started out as non-color words but became color words in association with their own colors.
Color (ENG) 基本色名(英語) | Nominal Form 名詞形 | Adjectival Form 形容詞形 |
Black |
黒 |
黒い |
White |
白 |
白い |
Red |
赤 |
赤い |
Green |
緑色 |
緑色の |
Yellow |
黄色 |
黄色い・黄色の |
Blue |
青 |
青い |
Pink |
ピンク色 |
ピンク色の |
Grey |
灰色 |
灰色の |
Brown |
茶色 |
茶色い・茶色の |
Orange |
オレンジ色 |
オレンジ色の |
Purple |
紫色 |
紫色の |
Though somewhat repetitive, it's just as important to know what the basic color words are to Modern Japanese speakers. In Japanese, the basic color words are separated into 10 chromatic (有彩色) and 3 achromatic (無彩色) colors for a total of 13 colors. Notice how unlike English, transition colors are considered basic whereas colors like pink and orange are not represented.
The Basic Chromatic Colors 基本の有彩色 | Adjectival Forms 形容詞形 | English Translation 英訳 |
赤 |
赤い・赤の |
Red |
黄赤 |
黄赤の |
Yellowish red |
黄 |
黄の・黄色の・黄色い |
Yellow |
黄緑 |
黄緑の |
Yellow-green |
緑 |
緑の・緑色の |
Green |
青緑 |
青緑の |
Blue-green |
青 |
青の・青い |
Blue |
青紫 |
青紫の |
Bluish purple |
紫 |
紫の・紫色の |
Purple |
赤紫 |
赤紫の |
Purplish red |
The Basic Achromatic Colors 基本の無彩色 | Adjectival Forms 形容詞形 | 英訳 |
白 |
白い・白の |
White |
灰 |
灰色の |
Grey |
黒 |
黒い・黒の |
Black |
The word 色 itself has a complex history. Originally, [iro] was a noun meaning blood relationship and was present in the archaic words いろせ (brother) and いろね (older brother/sister) respectively. Now, before you get upset about archaic Japanese appearing, it's from this point that the word's meaning became more complicated, and those changes have lasted ever since.
Later on, it denoted the beauty of courtship and women. This then became extended to beauty in general before ultimately referring to color. To this day, 色 can be still seen used with these meanings as well as other nuances such as “facial expression,” “sensuality,” etc. For instance, the word 色気 means "shade of color" just as much as it means "sex appeal."
Based in Wuxing (Five Phases) philosophy (陰陽五行説), which is a five-fold scheme used in traditional Chinese fields to explain many phenomena in the world, there are five colors that have held major cultural significance in Japanese as a result. The five colors of this philosophy are 青 (associated with the element 木 = wood)・赤 (associated with the element 火 = fire)・黄 (associated with the element 土 = earth)・白 (associated with the element 金 = metal)・黒 (associated with the element 水 = water) in that order.
Depending on the religious organization or particular customs involved, one or more of these colors may differ, but learning more about the role color plays in Asian philosophies can create a greater understanding of the cultures involved. In Shintoist contexts, at least, the 五色 are described as above.
The concept of there being seven colors in the rainbow is a direct borrowing from the West. Although one could make the argument that 橙色 is either the Japanese equivalent of "orange" or specifically refers to Mandarin orange as opposed to standard orange expressed by オレンジ色, naming specifications aside, the seven colors of the rainbow have been borrowed verbatim with no alteration: 赤 (red)・橙 (orange)・黄 (yellow)・緑 (green)・青 (blue)・藍 (indigo)・紫 (purple).
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赤
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The word [aka] is the basic word for "red" in Japanese. However, the basic hue of "red" defined by [aka] is darker than the English red. [aka] may also be seen as 赤色. The reading セキショク is strictly formal and literary in nature.
Compound Words: 赤道 赤外線 赤銅 |
紅
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The color defined by the Kanji 紅 itself is a purplish red and is frequently translated as "crimson." The character has two commonly used ON readings (コウ・ク) and two commonly used KUN readings (くれない・べに).
Compound Words: 紅葉 (コウヨウ) = red leaves 紅海 (コウカイ) = Red Sea 紅白 (コウハク) = red and white* 深紅・真紅 (シンク) = deep crimson 紅色 (くれないいろ・べにいろ・コウショク) = crimson |
朱
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When read as シュ, this Kanji refers to a slightly orange red. When read as あけ, it refers to "scarlet."
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丹
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The Kanji 丹 refers to a red earth color. Its ON reading is タン and its KUN reading is に. The ON reading is used in compounds such as 丹砂 (cinnabar) and 丹青 (painting (lit. red and blue)). The KUN reading is present in 丹色 (にいろ).
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緋
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緋色(ヒいろ) is a "brilliant red."It too can be read as あけ to refer to a vibrant red with minor yellow.
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赭
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This Kanji is incredibly rare, but its KUN reading is そほ, which refers to a yellowish red earth color similar to that of 丹. This word is so old, in fact, that it existed in compounds such as 赭土(そほに) meaning "red ocher" before writing. However, it would not become a color name until much later. In Modern Japanese, the color is only ever identified in Sino-Japanese compounds with the ON reading シャ.
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茜
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Read as あかね, this is both the name of the dye and of the color "madder."
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纁
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Read as そひ・そび, it is an antiquated color name, referring to bright red-orange produced by madder being mixed with lye.
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※紅白 is a very important color pairing referring to festive/auspicious colors, which is why they are the colors of the Japanese flag.
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深紅
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薔薇色
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躑躅色
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柿色
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桃色
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桜色
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曙色
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柘榴色
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撫子色
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鴇色
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苺色
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栗色
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海老色
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青
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蒼
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碧
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藍
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紺
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縹色
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水色
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群青色
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瑠璃色
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浅葱色
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空色
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緑
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翠
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翠色
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碧
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翠色
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柳色
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草色
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苗色
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萌葱色
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萌黄色
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萌木色
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山葵色
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深碧
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若葉色
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緑青
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蒼色
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碧色
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There is a noun and an adjectival form to each color. Also, there are additional Sino-Japanese variants for many colors, which can be made adjectival by adding の.
Color | Native | Adjective | Non-native | Adjective | Kango |
Blue | 青(あお) | 青い | 青色(せいしょく) | ||
Red | 赤(あか) | 赤い | 赤色(せきしょく) | ||
Yellow | 黄(き) | 黄色(きいろ)い 黄(色)の | | 黄色(こうしょく) | |
Green | 緑(みどり) | 緑の | 緑色(みどりいろ・りょくしょく) | ||
Black | 黒(くろ) | 黒い | 黒色(こくしょく) | ||
Brown | 茶色(ちゃいろ) | 茶色(ちゃいろ)い 茶色(ちゃいろ)の | |||
White | 白(しろ) | 白い | 白色(はくしょく) | ||
Purple | 紫(むらさき) | 紫の | 紫色(むらさきいろ) | ||
Grey | 灰色(はいいろ・かいしょく) | ||||
Pink | ピンク | ピンクの | |||
Orange | オレンジ | オレンジの | |||
Gold | 金色(かねいろ) | 金色(きんいろ・こんじき・きんしょく) | |||
Silver | 銀色(しろがねいろ) | 銀色(ぎんいろ・ぎんしょく) | |||
Beige | ベージュ | ベージュの | |||
Tan | 渋色(しぶいろ) | 渋色の | |||
Turquoise | ターコイズ | ターコイズの | |||
Vermilion | 朱色(しゅいろ・しゅしょく) | ||||
Indigo | インディゴ インジゴ | 藍色(あいいろ・らんしょく) |
Usage Notes:
1. All colors of native or foreign origin may be followed by 色. Certain colors should be used with 色. For example, 灰 just means "ashes". Gold and silver must have 色 in order to not be confused with the actual elements. Words such as ターコイズ and オレンジ can be understood to mean the color, but they really refer to the objects. Without 色, 緑 may mean "greenery". 紫 as a noun may refer to soy sauce in sushi restaurants.
2. The native versions of gold and silver are rare. In fact, the one for gold is never used but in 白銀色, 銅色, and the like.
3. Most of the Sino-Japanese readings are rare.
4. 青, not 緑, is the color used for streetlights for "green". 青 may also mean "greens" in expressions like 青物市場 meaning "vegetable market". It is also the color for pale face, youth, and freshness in plants, coolness, the sea, and even the color of moonlight and evening mist. It may also refer to black as in a horse's coat.
5. 茶色 is "brown" instead of "green" because when tea was first introduced to Japan, it would be shipped to elites in hardened, steamed form. From then, it would be cut up and boiled in hot water and drank. As "green tea" variants would come later, the color of the original tea drinks became the Japanese word for brown.
Light and Dark Colors
Light colors are expressed by using 薄い or 薄~. For dark colors, use 濃い. Now, there will be colors that are light or dark variants of a general color. 淡い is "light/faint" and its antonym is also 濃い.
1. 淡い黄色の葉っぱがありますよね。
There are light yellow flowers, aren't there?
2. この花の色が薄い。
This flower's color is pale/weak/thin.
3. 高橋さんの車はその濃い緑色のですね。
Mr. Takahashi's car is that dark green one, right?
4. 梅の薄紅
The light crimson of a plum
Mixed Colors
Colors may be put together to make things such as "white-black" and "yellow-green". The resultant expressions may be read with either 訓読み or 音読み. 音読み are rarer and reserved for the spoken language with exception to #8.
5. 黄緑(きみどり・おうりょく)
Yellow-green
6. 黒白(くろしろ・こくはく)
Black and white
7. 青緑(あおみどり・せいりょく)
Blue-green/aqua
8. 金茶(きんちゃ)
Golden brown
Interesting Phrases
赤字 and 黒字 are deficit and surplus respectfully. They are words that typically confuse students, although there are similar expressions in English. For example, you can say "to be in the red". When you get a failing grade, you can say you got an 赤点. However, 黒点 refers to sunspots. So, it is not the opposite of 赤点. Instead, the antonym for 赤点 is either 及第点 or 合格点.
It is also important to note that the phrases 肌が{白い・黒い} are NOT used for nationality/race. Rather, they refer to someone's complexion.