Heian era
Cherry Blossom & Young Bamboo— 桜と若竹
The softest pink of cherry blossoms set beside young bamboo green — spring, captured.
#F9D5E0
pink · 1 palette
Sakura
桜
Cherry blossom pink
About Sakura
Sakura (桜) is a light, vivid pink tone. Its hex value is #F9D5E0 — that is
RGB 249, 213, 224, or HSL 342°, 75%, 91%.
Cherry blossom pink.
It holds 15.6:1 contrast against dark, so Sakura works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 1.3:1; on black 15.6:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Sakura appears in 1 combination — most often paired with Wakatake, Kinari and Matsuba.
Colours that go with Sakura
From a standard colour wheel, Sakura anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#F9D5E0 #D5F9EE
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#F9D5E0 #F9D5F2 #F9DCD5
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#F9D5E0 #E0F9D5 #D5E0F9
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#F9D5E0 #D5F9DC #D5F2F9
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Sakura
Sakura is a light, vivid tone (HSL 342°, 75%, 91%), which makes it a soft background or a light accent. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a dark background (15.6:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use dark lettering. Pair it with its complement (#D5F9EE) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#F9D5F2 and #F9DCD5) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Studio
Taking Sakura off the screen
A hex code is an instruction to a screen, not a colour. Where this one is going decides what it needs next.
-
...onto paper
Start here if the palette gets printed. Screen colour and ink colour are not the same colour, and this is the deck that translates between them.
Listed on Amazon as Pantone GP6102B Color Bridge Guide Set Coated & Uncoated, Multi-Colour
View on Amazon -
...onto a screen you can trust
Start here if it stays digital. An uncalibrated monitor is the single most common reason a palette that looked right on your desk looks wrong everywhere else.
Calibrite
ColorChecker Studio spectrophotometer
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite ColorChecker Studio Spectrophotometer for Complete Color Management for Display, Projector, Printer and Scanner Profiling
View on Amazon -
...by hand
Start here if you are mixing it. Wada's plates were flat printed colour; gansai pans are the closest everyday medium to them.
Pentel
Fude Touch brush sign pen
Listed on Amazon as Pentel Fude Touch Sign Pen, Black, Felt Pen Like Brush Stroke (SES15C-A) 3 Pieces
View on Amazon
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Palettes with Sakura
Sakura appears in 1 combination from the archive. For how usage like this compares across the whole dictionary, see the data analysis of all 348 plates.
Questions about Sakura
- What is the hex code for Sakura?
- Sakura (桜) is #F9D5E0. Cherry blossom pink It appears in 1 historical color combination from Sanzo Wada's 1933 "A Dictionary of Color Combinations".
- What does Sakura look like on white and black backgrounds?
- Sakura (#F9D5E0) has a WCAG contrast ratio of 1.34:1 against white (#FFFFFF) and 15.62:1 against black (#000000). WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
- Where does the color Sakura come from?
- Sakura is documented in Sanzo Wada's "A Dictionary of Color Combinations" (1933, Seigensha Art Publishing 2010 reprint). Wada catalogued pink pigments and historical Japanese color terms. The source work is in the public domain.
- Can I use Sakura in my own design or brand?
- Yes. The color name and hex value (#F9D5E0) are factual data — not copyrightable. Our curation and descriptions are CC BY 4.0 licensed.
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
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- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
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- 378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
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