Colours in Malaysia and Japan

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.

Yellow is the colour of Malay royalty. Under old court rules commoners were forbidden to wear it, and the crescent and star on the flag are yellow for the rulers.

Marchers calling for clean elections wear yellow shirts. The movement is called Bersih, which means clean, and before its 2011 rally the government outlawed the shirts.

Green is the colour of Islam, the religion of the federation, and of the Islamic party PAS, whose flag is a white circle on green.

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.

White is the colour of royal mourning. When a ruler dies, men wear a white band around the songkok, the black cap worn with Malay dress.

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.

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.