Collection · 24 palettes

Dark Color Palettes

Deep ink tones, midnight navy, and the quiet weight of Japanese shadow.

Dark palettes in the Wada tradition are rarely pure black — they're layered: sumi ink, deep kon indigo, kachi dark purple-navy, charcoal grey. The contrast is achieved not by darkness alone but by pairing the deep tones with one accent — a flash of coral, a sliver of gold, a pale gofun white. These combinations are directly usable for dark-mode UI, luxury branding, high-contrast editorial layouts, and any identity that needs authority without aggression.

Kamakura era

Red Lead & Ink— 鉛丹と墨

The dense orange-red of lead oxide pigment struck against ink black.

Kamakura era

Vermillion, Black, Gold— 朱・黒・金

The ceremonial triad of temple lacquerware — vermillion, lacquer black, gold leaf.

Heian era

Crimson & Navy— 紅と紺

Deep safflower crimson against navy — the courtly contrast of Heian-era robes and formal Edo textiles.

Kamakura era

Spring Green & Ink— 萌黄と墨

Young shoot green against sumi ink — the two extremes of the Japanese calligrapher's world.

Meiji era

Deep Indigo & Cream— 紺と生成

The darkest indigo against unbleached cream — the color of a Meiji schoolboy's uniform.

Edo era

Pale Blue & Vermillion— 浅葱と朱

The faded blue of Shinsengumi jackets against shrine-gate vermillion — restrained power.

Kamakura era

Ultramarine & Chalk White— 群青と胡粉

The deep ultramarine of Buddhist mineral pigment against temple chalk white.

Heian era

Royal Purple & Silver— 紫と銀

Imperial purple set against lunar silver — Heian courtly luxury at its quietest.

Edo era

Madder Red & Evergreen— 茜と常磐

The rooted red of madder-dyed cotton set against enduring pine green.

Heian era

Lapis & Chalk— 瑠璃と胡粉

Lapis lazuli blue against oyster-shell white — the color of Buddhist scripture.

Muromachi era

Bellflower & Ink— 桔梗と墨

The deep violet of the bellflower set against ink — formal, discreet.

Edo era

Indigo Blue & Silver— 縹と銀

Mid-grade indigo with the quiet sheen of silver — an understated Edo merchant robe.

Edo era

Crimson Lake & Pine— 臙脂と松葉

The deep lake crimson of cochineal against pine needle green — winter evergreen.

Showa era

Cossack Green & Vandar Poel's Blue

Plate 5 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Cossack Green, Vandar Poel's Blue.

Showa era

Benzol Green & Grayish Lavender - A

Plate 15 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Benzol Green, Grayish Lavender - A.

Showa era

Calamine BLue & Laelia Pink

Plate 20 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Calamine BLue, Laelia Pink.

Showa era

Sepia & Veronia Purple

Plate 24 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sepia, Veronia Purple.

Showa era

Madder Brown & Deep Indigo

Plate 28 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Madder Brown, Deep Indigo.

Showa era

Raw Sienna & Slate Color

Plate 33 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Raw Sienna, Slate Color.

Showa era

Brick Red & Red Violet

Plate 37 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Brick Red, Red Violet.

Showa era

Diamine Green & Deep Lyons Blue

Plate 38 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Diamine Green, Deep Lyons Blue.

Showa era

Light Porcelain Green & Olympic Blue

Plate 44 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Light Porcelain Green, Olympic Blue.

Showa era

Orange & Black

Plate 46 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Orange, Black.

Showa era

Pale King's Blue & Blue

Plate 49 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Pale King's Blue, Blue.

From the archive

Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.

All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues

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