Colors in Japanese

The Japanese word for ‘color’ is 色 (iro). The traditional language recognized only four fundamental colors: white, black, red, and blue, before gradually adding green, yellow, and purple. Some colors function as adjectives, others as simple nouns, a distinction that directly affects their grammatical construction.

Basic Colors

English	Nom (kanji)	Romaji	Forme adjectif
White	白	shiro	shiroi
Black	黒	kuro	kuroi
Red	赤	aka	akai
Blue	青	ao	aoi
Yellow	黄	ki	kiiroi
Green	緑	midori	,
Brown	茶	cha	chairoi
Purple	紫	murasaki	,
Gold	金色	kin’iro	,
Silver	銀色	gin’iro	,

Color Nouns and Adjectives: A Distinction to Know

In Japanese, a color can function as a noun or as an adjective, depending on its construction. Colors that have a い form (i-adjective) are used directly before a noun or with です (desu): 赤い車です (akai kuruma desu), ‘it’s a red car.’ Colors that remain simple nouns require the particle の (no) to modify another noun: 紫の花 (murasaki no hana), ‘a purple flower.’

Two colors follow an irregular construction for their adjective form: 黄色い (kiiroi) for yellow and 茶色い (chairoi) for brown. The forms 黄い (kii) and 茶い (chai) do not exist in Japanese, a common mistake among learners.

The Special Case of ao and midori

The word 青 (ao) long referred to both blue and green in Japanese. The word 緑 (midori), now associated with green, only really became established after World War II. Certain fixed expressions have retained the old usage: 青信号 (aoshingou) refers to the green light of a traffic signal, literally ‘blue signal,’ and 青リンゴ (aoringo) describes a green apple. Nature Day, celebrated on May 4, is called 緑の日 (midori no hi), proof that the two words coexist depending on the context.

Shades and Compound Colors

The vocabulary of colors is enriched by shades built from the basic colors.

Japanese	Romaji	Meaning
水色	mizuiro	light blue, literally ‘color of water’
紺色	koniro	navy blue
桃色	momoiro	pink, literally ‘peach color’
灰色	haiiro	grey, literally ‘ash color’
紅葉色	momijiiro	color of maple leaves in autumn

The suffix っぽい (-ppoi) indicates that a shade tends toward a color without fully belonging to it: 青っぽい (aoppoi) means ‘bluish,’ 茶色っぽい (chairoppoi) ‘brownish.’ Intensity can also be specified by adding a qualifier before the color, such as 濃い (koi, ‘deep, dark’) in 濃い赤 (koi aka), ‘dark red.’

Colors Borrowed from English

Several more recent or less central colors in the traditional Japanese system are written in katakana, the alphabet reserved for foreign borrowings.

English	Japanese	Romaji
Pink	ピンク	pinku
Grey	グレー	guree
Orange	オレンジ	orenji
Beige	ベージュ	beeju
Pastel Pink	パステルピンク	pasuteru pinku

Some of these colors, such as grey or pink, also have a native Japanese version (灰色 haiiro for grey, 桃色 momoiro for pink), the two forms coexisting depending on the register or the speaker’s preference.

The Symbolism of Colors in Japan

Japanese colors carry a symbolic charge inherited from ancient China and currents of thought such as Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. The four primary colors, white, red, black, and blue, remain omnipresent in clothing, architecture, and ceremonies. White is traditionally associated with purity and appears in weddings as well as in funeral rites, depending on the shade and context. Red evokes protection and luck, an association visible in the torii gates of Shinto shrines. Black conveys formality and authority, while blue is linked to serenity and nature.

This overview covers the colors and shades most used in everyday Japanese. To delve deeper into adjective grammar and their use in complete sentences, a complete Japanese course allows you to tackle these structures progressively.