Ume-gasane 梅重 Late winter – early spring
Deep crimson over plum pink — red plum against late snow.
Traditional combinations 襲の色目
Heian courtiers wore color as layered pairs — an outer silk (omote) over a lining (ura) — and every pairing had a name, a season, and a poem behind it. These kasane no irome are the ancestors of Japanese palette design: two colors doing the work of a whole landscape. Interpretations vary by source; the values shown are this site's reading of each pairing — tap a layer to open that color's page.
Sakura 桜 Spring
White silk with pink beneath — petals lit from within. The most celebrated kasane of all.
Yamabuki 山吹 Late spring
Bright yellow over russet — flowers over last year's leaves.
Fuji 藤 Early summer
Pale violet over young green — racemes hanging in new leaves. Worn by the Fujiwara in their glory.
Unohana 卯の花 Early summer
White over blue — hedge flowers against June sky.
Shōbu 菖蒲 Fifth month
Iris purple over leaf green, for the sweet-flag festival.
Nadeshiko 撫子 Summer
Pink over pale blue — the 'Yamato nadeshiko' flower that named an ideal.
Ominaeshi 女郎花 Early autumn
Autumn-field yellow over gray-green.
Hagi 萩 Autumn
Clover purple over green — the Man'yōshū's favorite flower.
Shion 紫苑 Autumn
Soft aster violet over pale blue mist.
Momiji 紅葉 Late autumn
Maple red over gold — the mountainside in one sleeve.
Yuki-no-shita 雪の下 Winter
White over crimson — life waiting under snowfall.