Colours in Japanese: 赤い or 緑の, and Why 青 Is Green

Colours: 赤い車 or 緑の車

The first six can be い-adjectives (赤い); 緑 and 紫 are nouns only (緑の).

Short answer: Japanese colours come in two kinds. Six old colours have an い-adjective form: 赤い (red), 青い (blue), 白い (white), 黒い (black), 黄色い (yellow) and 茶色い (brown). The rest are nouns and join a noun with の: 緑の車, “a green car”. Many modern colours are katakana loanwords, like ピンク and オレンジ.

The six い-adjective colours

Before a noun, add い: 赤いりんご. As a noun on its own, drop it: 赤が好きです, “I like red”.

Adjective	Meaning	As a noun
akai	red	赤 aka
aoi	blue	青 ao
shiroi	white	白 shiro
kuroi	black	黒 kuro
kiiroi	yellow	黄色 kiiro
chairoi	brown	茶色 chairo (“tea colour”)

Colours that take の

These are nouns only, so they link with の. Katakana colours work the same way.

青: blue, and sometimes green

Older Japanese used 青 for a range from blue to green, and some uses survive: the “go” traffic light is 青信号, and fresh green vegetables are 青野菜. 緑 is the everyday word for green.

Light, dark and bright

Japanese adds a prefix or word for shade. 真っ (ma-) means pure, deep.

Traditional colour names

Japan has hundreds of traditional colour names (和色 washoku), many from plants and dyes.

Colour	Meaning	Origin
aiiro	indigo	indigo dye
sakurairo	pale pink	cherry blossom
matchairo	matcha green	powdered tea
shuiro	vermilion	shrine gates
kon’iro	navy blue	dye
moegiiro	fresh green	new shoots

Colours in expressions

Colours appear in everyday idioms.

Check yourself

Say each one in Japanese, then open the answer to check and hear it.

a red car
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akai kuruma
a green shirt
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midori no shatsu緑 takes の.
I like blue.
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Ao ga suki desu.
Do you have other colours?
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Hoka no iro wa arimasu ka.
The light turned green.
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Shingō ga ao ni narimashita.
pure white
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masshiro

Red and white

Red and white (紅白, kōhaku) is the colour pair of celebration: on New Year decorations, gift envelopes and the national flag, 日の丸, a red sun on white.

赤いあかいakaired傘かさkasaumbrellaはwa(topic)私わたしwatashimyのnooneですdesuis

Akai kasa wa watashi no desu.“The red umbrella is mine.”Why: 赤い directly before the noun.

緑みどりmidorigreenのno(link)シャツshatsushirtをo(object)くださいkudasaiplease give

Midori no shatsu o kudasai.“The green shirt, please.”Why: 緑 is a noun, so の.

信号しんごうshingōthe lightがga(subject)青あおaogreen (“blue”)にnitoなりましたnarimashitabecame

Shingō ga ao ni narimashita.“The light turned green.”Why: Noun + になる: become. Japanese traffic lights are a bluish green.