Heian era
Cherry Blossom & Young Bamboo— 桜と若竹
The softest pink of cherry blossoms set beside young bamboo green — spring, captured.
#4C5D3F
green · 3 palettes
Matsuba
松葉
Pine needle dark
About Matsuba
Matsuba (松葉) is a deep, near-neutral green tone. Its hex value is #4C5D3F — that is
RGB 76, 93, 63, or HSL 94°, 19%, 31%.
Pine needle dark.
It holds 7.1:1 contrast against white, so Matsuba works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 7.1:1; on black 2.9:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Matsuba appears in 3 combinations — most often paired with Kinari, Sakura and Wakatake.
Colours that go with Matsuba
From a standard colour wheel, Matsuba anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#4C5D3F #503F5D
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#4C5D3F #5B5D3F #3F5D41
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#4C5D3F #3F4C5D #5D3F4C
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#4C5D3F #413F5D #5D3F5B
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Matsuba
Matsuba is a deep, muted tone (HSL 94°, 19%, 31%), which makes it a grounding background or strong accent. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a light background (7.1:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#503F5D) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#5B5D3F and #3F5D41) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Palettes with Matsuba
Matsuba appears in 3 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours.
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
See what's inside
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