Japanese Traditional and Ceremonial Colors （日本传统和仪式的颜色）.pdfVIP

Japanese Traditional and Ceremonial Colors Excerpted from G.Thompson at Red and White are auspicious colors (good luck). You will find the two colors used for many special occasions, such as weddings, and births. I do not know the origins, but surmise as you do, that being one of the easier natural dyes to create, that it would become the more widely used. Since tassels are used to decorate things of celebration, red and white are the colors you will find (unless it is black and white, or all black for a funeral). There is an observance in Japan that you may find amusing - you are in a train station and see a couple. The man is in an all black, double-breasted suit, the woman in an all black kimono. Both are carrying a shopping bag (yes , a shopping bag) containing gifts. Are they returning from a funeral or a wedding? The only way to tell is if the womans obi is colorful, or solid black, and the mans tie is white or black. Colorful/white is for a wedding, black/black is for the funeral. Blue and White are also prominent colors in Japanese fabrics and dishware. Yukata is a blue and white cotton fabric used to make summer kimonos called yukata . It is also used for the temari-like patterns found throughout their dishware. So many times, I hear western women moan about how the dishes they bought just wont match their color scheme at home. Doesnt it come in green? Hard to change a thousands of years old tradition. : ) One group member follows a Usenet group where the same topic for different reasons was being discussed and offers the following reference. The color list is referenced to Liza Dalbys book Geisha, about her study of Japanese geisha life. The layering of colours for kimono and their surface decoration vary with the season and even the month. Apparently, as ceremonial kimono are very expensive, only geisha follow the tradition of changing colours for each month. This is one list of