Collection · 12 palettes

Pink Color Palettes

Sakura, nadeshiko, usubeni — the full range of Japanese pink.

Pink in Japanese color tradition is rarely sweet. Sakura (cherry blossom) is almost white — a blush, not a statement. Nadeshiko (fringed pink) is a cooler, more assertive flower pink. Usubeni (pale crimson) has the weight of ceremony. The range from the barely-pink to the deeply-pink is more nuanced here than anywhere in Western color culture. These palettes are for beauty and skincare brands, bridal and wedding design, editorial fashion, fragrance packaging, and spring campaigns that want softness with precision.

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

Pink Dianthus & Water— 撫子と水色

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

Edo era

Light Pink & Tea— 薄紅と茶

A whisper of pink against tea brown — the tone of an Edo-period lacquer sweet box.

Muromachi era

Grass Yellow & Rikyū Grey— 刈安と利休鼠

Wild grass yellow tempered by the muted grey favored by the tea master Sen no Rikyū.

Heian era

Wisteria & Indigo— 藤と藍

The soft lavender of wisteria blossoms against deep indigo.

Showa era

Violet Red & Dull Blue Violet

Plate 9 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Violet Red, Dull Blue Violet.

Showa era

Rosolanc Purple & Helvetia Blue

Plate 48 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Rosolanc Purple, Helvetia Blue.

Showa era

Aconite Violet & Dark Soft Violet

Plate 64 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Aconite Violet, Dark Soft Violet.

Showa era

Rosolanc Purple & Orange +1

Plate 144 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Rosolanc Purple, Orange, Black.

Showa era

Rosolanc Purple & Orange Yellow +1

Plate 170 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Rosolanc Purple, Orange Yellow, Red Violet.

Showa era

Rosolanc Purple & Cinnamon Rufous +1

Plate 204 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Rosolanc Purple, Cinnamon Rufous, Light Glaucous Blue.

Showa era

Rosolanc Purple & Turquoise Green +2

Plate 346 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Rosolanc Purple, Turquoise Green, Light Green Yellow, Andover Green.

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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