Victoria and Albert Museum

Japanese art & design: colour

Colour is often used to convey messages in Japanese design. The wearing of certain colours, or the use of particular colours in the home, could indicate a person's beliefs.

Colour is often used to convey messages in Japanese design. The wearing of certain colours, or the use of particular colours in the home, could indicate a person's beliefs. The Buddhist philosophy emphasized that to reach enlightenment and escape from earthly desires one must lead a simple, frugal life. At various times the shogunate also issued dictates on which colours could be used by different social classes on particular occasions, in order to limit ostentatious display in everyday life and the home.

Japanese motifs & symbols: plants and flowers

Box with lid, Fujita Kyohei

Box with lid 'Kohakubai - Red & White Plum  Blossoms'
Fujita Kyohei (b.1921)
Japan
1988
Purple glass with silver & gold leaf with  splashes of red & white glass
Museum no. FE.6A-1989

Plum blossoms are the earliest blossom to flower, often appearing before the winter snows have melted. Plum blossoms signify age and youth, as the delicate petals appear on the most gnarled and elderly of trees.

Japanese motifs & symbols: animals, insects & birds

Kimono with butterfly design, 1830 - 1880. Museum no. T.269-1960

Kimono
Japan
1830 - 1880
Silk and silk embroidery
Museum no. T.269-1960

Outer kimono (uchikake) with long swinging sleeves (furisode) of white figured silk (rinzu) and embroidery  of flowers, butterflies and fences in coloured silks. The butterfly is the symbol of joy and longevity, and also embodies the souls of both the living and the dead.