Edo era
Persimmon & Burnt Brown— 柿と焦茶
Autumn persimmon against scorched cedar — harvest colors from the countryside.
#4B2E20
brown · 2 palettes
Kogecha
焦茶
Burnt brown
About Kogecha
Kogecha (焦茶) is a deep, muted brown tone. Its hex value is #4B2E20 — that is
RGB 75, 46, 32, or HSL 20°, 40%, 21%.
Burnt brown.
It holds 12.3:1 contrast against white, so Kogecha works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 12.3:1; on black 1.7:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Kogecha appears in 2 combinations — most often paired with Kaki, Kinuta and Kogecha.
The story of Kogecha
Kogecha (焦茶) — literally 'burnt tea' — is the deep brown of over-brewed hojicha, of cedar weathered to near-black, of coffee grounds. It's a structural warm: the colour you place at the bottom of a composition to ground it, the trim colour around a wabi-sabi interior, the binding cloth on a hand-bound book.
Where tobi reads as warm-ink brown with red undertones, kogecha pulls cooler and darker — closer to a true black-brown. Both belong to the wabi-sabi register but kogecha is the more architectural choice: it reads as gravitas where tobi reads as warmth.
Colours that go with Kogecha
From a standard colour wheel, Kogecha anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#4B2E20 #203D4B
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#4B2E20 #4B2028 #4B4420
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#4B2E20 #204B2E #2E204B
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#4B2E20 #204B43 #20284B
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Kogecha
Kogecha is a deep, muted tone (HSL 20°, 40%, 21%), which makes it a grounding background or strong accent. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a light background (12.3:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#203D4B) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#4B2028 and #4B4420) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Palettes with Kogecha
Kogecha appears in 2 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours.
From the archive
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