Colours in Japan and China

The torii gates of Shinto shrines are often painted vermilion, a bright orange-red. The colour is held to keep evil away, and the long tunnels of gates at Fushimi Inari are the best known.

Red stands for good fortune and happiness. Brides traditionally wear it, doors are hung with red couplets at New Year, and gifts of money come in red envelopes.

The national flag is red with five yellow stars. The red stands for the Communist revolution, and the same red runs through party banners and slogans.

Yellow was the emperor's colour. Under the Ming and Qing dynasties bright yellow robes and yellow glazed roof tiles, as on the Forbidden City, were reserved for him.

To "wear a green hat" is a Chinese phrase for a man whose wife is unfaithful. For that reason men avoid green hats, and they make a poor gift.

The old colour word qing covers green, blue and the shades between. In the five-element system it belongs to wood, the east and spring.

Indigo dyeing, called aizome, clothed ordinary people in deep blue through the Edo period. The men's national football team plays in blue and is nicknamed Samurai Blue.

Purple dye from the murasaki plant was costly and hard to make. In the court rank system set up under Prince Shotoku, the highest officials wore purple caps.

Pale pink is the colour of cherry blossom. In spring people picnic under the trees for hanami, flower viewing, and the short bloom is a common image for how brief life is.

A bride at a Shinto wedding may wear the shiromuku, a kimono that is white from head to foot. White is also the colour of the paper streamers that mark sacred places.

Red and white together, called kohaku, mark happy occasions. Curtains at ceremonies are striped red and white, and the New Year's Eve song contest sets a Red team against a White team.

White is the traditional colour of death and mourning. Families wore undyed white cloth at funerals, and condolence money is still given in white envelopes.

Mourners wear plain black, called mofuku, to funerals, and men add a black tie. Condolence money goes in an envelope tied with black and white cord.

Gold stands for wealth. It is paired with red on New Year decorations, wedding invitations and shop signs to wish for a prosperous year.