Collection · 9 palettes

Heian Court Palettes

The refined color language of 8th–12th century Japanese aristocracy.

The Heian period (794-1185) codified one of the most sophisticated color vocabularies in world history. Court robes were layered in named combinations — kasane no irome — that signaled season, rank, and sensibility. The palettes in this collection draw directly on that tradition: kurenai and kon, sakura and wakatake, fuji and ai. Use them for editorial work that needs gravitas, for wellness and beauty brands that want quietness, or for any project where the client will actually appreciate the backstory.

Heian era

Crimson & Navy— 紅と紺

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

Heian era

Cherry Blossom & Young Bamboo— 桜と若竹

The softest pink of cherry blossoms set beside young bamboo green — spring, captured.

Heian era

Royal Purple & Silver— 紫と銀

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

Heian era

Wisteria & Indigo— 藤と藍

The soft lavender of wisteria blossoms against deep indigo.

Kamakura era

Spring Green & Ink— 萌黄と墨

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

Heian era

Pink Dianthus & Water— 撫子と水色

The soft pink of wild dianthus beside the translucent blue of mountain water.

Heian era

Lapis & Chalk— 瑠璃と胡粉

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

Heian era

Ao & White— 青と白

The classical Japanese 'ao' — an ambiguous blue-green — against pure white.

Heian era

Valerian Yellow & Pale Blue— 女郎花と浅葱

The yellow of autumn valerian against late-summer sky.

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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