NEW! Exquisite Colors in Japanese Art Book Review

Colors in Japanese Art by Nobuyoshi Hamada invites readers into the captivating world of Japanese colour traditions, where every hue tells a story centuries in the making.

This masterful exploration reveals how colour transcends mere decoration in Japanese art, from the symbolic importance of seasonal kimono choices to the carefully curated palettes of ancient pottery and prints.

With over 120 stunning examples and detailed colour analysis, the book offers an unprecedented journey through Japan’s artistic heritage, making it an essential guide for art enthusiasts and colour devotees alike.

I asked colour consultant and artist Lauren Battistini to cast her expert eye over the book, here’s her review…

As a certified architectural color consultant and emerging artist, I was delighted at the prospect of reviewing the recently published book Colors in Japanese Art by Nobuyoshi Hamada. Many thanks are in order to both Rob Dyer of The Real Japan and Tuttle Publishing House for this opportunity, and of course to the author Hamada-san.

Japan as a country and its people hold a very special place in my heart, as my son and I visited the beautiful country for two weeks back in 2023. With the help of Rob and his travel recommendations, we had the opportunity to visit many cities, towns and sites of Japan.

One of my first observations about Japan is its creative and masterful use of colour in everything from art to architectural spaces to product packaging and signage on buildings. Just as is the case with every area of life in Japan, keen attention to detail is found in the use of colour. colour placement in Japan is never haphazard or random; rather, it is carefully and masterfully placed everywhere one looks. 

What piqued my curiosity about the book initially was the glossary of colours and colour codes toward the back. I noticed these as I perused the pages before doing a deep dive into the content itself. Everything is so well categorised from a colour standpoint, and I find that the glossary is quite helpful as a resource to me in considering colour combinations applicable to my own work in architectural colour design and art. 

I found myself immersed joyfully in every single page of Colors in Japanese Art for these similar reasons–the attention to every detail and cultural component of colour. The author perfectly weaves into the narrative all the nuances of colour in Japan.

These nuances include how colour names were derived, when in history we first see the colours utilised, the cultural and social reasons for colour use and their deeper meaning, how the colours are combined to create significant effects in art and dress, the pigments and dyes used to create the colours themselves, and even how certain colours were worn in each of the four seasons of the calendar year.

What is even more delightful to me as a colour professional is to see the colour combinations categorised alongside the images of art, pottery and clothing. Below each image in the book we receive a bit of history and rationale for the colour selection, then we typically find colour coded combinations alongside their corresponding colour names. What a fantastic inspiration for people wanting to understand how colour combinations create symmetry and visual appeal!

The order of the book is so exquisitely laid out before us readers that I am including it as a key resource in my ever expanding colour library. I consider Colors in Japanese Art to be an essential read for any student of colour and Japanese history, art and culture.

With its infusion of captivating bits of history, colour naming, colour psychology and meaning, and thorough explanation of pigments, dyes and the application of colour, this exhaustive manual provides a wealth of information to its audience. 

The book is categorised in the order of the following hues: red, purple, blue, green, yellow, brown, black and white, and gold and silver. In the table of contents, the author notes that “Special topics in the world of colour are also featured including layered colour schemes, plant colour names, bird colour names, and Kabuki actor colour names.”

An unexpected surprise interspersed through the book is the Japanese colour schemes categorised by a particular colour, then further categorised into pale, vivid and dark colour schemes in and around that colour. Take yellow for example. The author skillfully displays full colour schemes incorporating yellow in its pale, vivid and dark variations with other colours.

Of course the inspiration for these colour schemes is the art itself expertly curated by the author. The book is replete with visuals of the important works of art throughout Japan’s rich history, coupled with cultural footnotes and commentary on the colours utilised in each piece of work. 

Colors in Japanese Art carries the reader along on a rich journey of the history and placement of colour in Japanese culture and society, and it masterfully underscores the importance and depth of colour meaning that is embedded in Japan’s fiber and existence. Japan since ancient times has valued colour in all forms of life from art to culture to dress, and certainly as a means to convey status, social standing and many other important messages. 

I highly endorse Colors in Japanese Art by Nobuyoshi Hamada as not only an enjoyable, artful read, but also as an important cultural and historical commentary on the use of color and its significance in Japanese art, clothing, culture and society.

For anyone at all curious as to how and why Japan so masterfully understands and incorporates colour, consider this book as a powerful insight and guide on the centuries of colour study and creative application of it by the Japanese people themselves.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tuttle Publishing (November 26, 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 480531818X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-4805318188
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.95 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.58 x 1.02 x 11.1 inches

Lauren Battistini is an architectural colour expert and art illustrator in Houston, Texas. She is a world traveler, language learner and podcaster whose mission is to showcase colour through her floral and travel based art, architectural colour consulting and internationally aired podcast – Coloring My Way Across The Globe. Visit www.lfbcolor.com.

Buy Colors in Japanese Art on Amazon

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