Japanese Colors
Colors / Purple in Japan

Purple in Japan

Murasaki was the highest rank a color could hold — gromwell-root dye so precious that its name became a novelist's pen name and a synonym for nobility. Its descendants run from wisteria pale to eggplant dark.

Wisteria trellis in full bloom against a blue sky
Wisteria clusters hanging among fresh green leaves
Hydrangea hana-chōzu at a temple water basin
Iris garden at Horikiri, Tokyo

27 named colors, dark to light:

黒紅 Kurobeni 紫紺 Shikon 深紫 Kokimurasaki 似紫 Nisemurasaki 貝紫色 Kaimurasakiiro 蒲萄 Ebizome 杜若色 Kakitsubatairo 滅紫 Keshimurasaki 滅紫 Messhi 京紫 Kyōmurasaki 葡萄染 Ebizome 二藍 Futa'ai 茄子紺 Nasukon 桔梗色 Kikyō-iro 藤鼠 Fujinezumi 江戸紫 Edomurasaki 半色 Hashita-iro 古代紫 Kodaimurasaki 青紫 Aomurasaki 紫 Murasaki 紫鈍 Murasakinibi 菖蒲色 Ayameiro 鳩羽色 Hatobairo 紅藤 Benifuji 躑躅色 Tsutsujiiro 牡丹色 Botaniro 赤紫 Akamurasaki