Colors in Japanese
Quick answer
The basic colors in Japanese are 赤 (aka, red), 青 (ao, blue), 黄色 (kiiro, yellow), 緑 (midori, green), 黒 (kuro, black), and 白 (shiro, white). Most core colors have two forms: a noun (aka) and an -i adjective (akai) used before a noun — 赤い車 (akai kuruma, a red car). Newer colors like ピンク (pinku, pink) and オレンジ (orenji, orange) are katakana loanwords and only have the noun form.
Japanese Colors - Basic Color Vocabulary
The most useful Japanese color words — red, blue, yellow, green, and more, plus gold, silver, and light-and-dark shade words — each with natural Japanese, romaji pronunciation, an example sentence, and native-speaker audio.
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Basic colors in Japanese
The core color words. Where a color has an -i adjective form, it is shown in the meaning column.
| Japanese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 赤 | aka | Red. Noun form; the -i adjective is 赤い (akai). | |
| 青 | ao | Blue. Noun form; the -i adjective is 青い (aoi). | |
| 黄色 | kiiro | Yellow. Noun form; the -i adjective is 黄色い (kiiroi). | |
| 緑 | midori | Green. Used as a noun; no common -i adjective (often 緑色, midoriiro). | |
| 黒 | kuro | Black. Noun form; the -i adjective is 黒い (kuroi). | |
| 白 | shiro | White. Noun form; the -i adjective is 白い (shiroi). | |
| 茶色 | chairo | Brown. Noun form; the -i adjective is 茶色い (chairoi). | |
| 紫 | murasaki | Purple. Used as a noun; no common -i adjective form. | |
| ピンク | pinku | Pink. Katakana loanword; used as a noun. | |
| オレンジ | orenji | Orange. Katakana loanword; used as a noun (often オレンジ色). | |
| 灰色 | haiiro | Gray. Used as a noun; グレー (gurē) is also common. |
Gold, silver, and shade words
Metallic colors, in-between colors, and the adjectives Japanese uses to describe how light or dark a color is.
| Japanese | Pronunciation | Meaning | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 金色 | kin'iro | Gold (color). Used as a noun. | |
| 銀色 | gin'iro | Silver (color). Used as a noun. | |
| 水色 | mizuiro | Light blue / aqua. Used as a noun. | |
| 黄緑 | kimidori | Yellow-green / lime green. Used as a noun. | |
| 明るい | akarui | Bright / light. An -i adjective describing a light or vivid color. | |
| 暗い | kurai | Dark. An -i adjective describing a dark or dim color. | |
| 濃い | koi | Deep / dark (of a color). An -i adjective for a strong, saturated shade. | |
| 薄い | usui | Pale / light (of a color). An -i adjective for a faint, washed-out shade. | |
| 色 | iro | Color. The general word for color. |
Frequently asked questions
How do you say the basic colors in Japanese?
Red is aka, blue is ao, yellow is kiiro, green is midori, black is kuro, white is shiro, brown is chairo, and purple is murasaki. Pink (pinku) and orange (orenji) are katakana loanwords from English.
What is the difference between aka and akai?
Aka is the noun (the color red); akai is the -i adjective used to describe things: akai kuruma means a red car. Red, blue, yellow, black, white, and brown all have both forms. Green (midori) and purple (murasaki) are nouns only, so Japanese says midori no kuruma instead.
Why is the Japanese word for blue also used for green?
Historically ao covered both blue and green, and that usage survives in set phrases: green traffic lights and unripe apples are still called ao. In modern everyday Japanese, midori is the standard word for green.
How do you describe light and dark colors in Japanese?
Use akarui (bright), kurai (dark), koi (deep or saturated), and usui (pale) before the color word. Mizuiro, literally water color, is the common word for light blue.
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