The codex in numbers

171
colors: 348
Vol. Ⅰ plates: 233
Vol. Ⅱ patterns: 120 · 120 · 108
Vol. Ⅰ duos · trios · quartets

Fig. 1 — The Vol. Ⅰ workhorses

Colors ranked by how many of Vol. Ⅰ's 348 plates they appear in. Black is the most-printed color of all; after it, quiet paper tints do the heavy lifting — the loud colors are seasoning, not staples.

黒色Black

Data table

Color	Japanese	Plates
Black	黒色	23
Raw Sienna	檜皮色	19
Pale Lemon Yellow	淡卵色	19
Sulpher Yellow	蒸栗色	18
Ivory Buff	白茶	16
Turquoise Green	白緑	16
Lemon Yellow	金絲雀色	15
Eosine Pink	浅紅	14
Cream Yellow	卵色	14
Yellow Orange	柑子色	14
Salvia Blue	空色	13
Antwarp Blue	納戸色	13

Fig. 2 — The Vol. Ⅱ workhorses

The same ranking against Vol. Ⅱ's 233 patterns. In applied design the hierarchy flips to ink and paper: Black and White anchor a third of all patterns, with everything else far behind.

深川鼠Light Glaucous Blue

Data table

Color	Japanese	Patterns
Black	黒色	76
White	白色	71
Neutral Gray	銀鼠	21
Naples Yellow	淡黄蘗	18
Ivory Buff	白茶	16
Pale King's Blue	瓶覗	16
Light Glaucous Blue	深川鼠	16
Spectrum Red	赤色	15
Red Orange	朱色	13
Sulpher Yellow	蒸栗色	13
Green	緑色	13
Olympic Blue	浅縹	13

Fig. 3 — How hues pair

Every pair of hue families sharing a plate, across all 348 combinations. Orange is the great mixer; pinks and neutrals mostly keep their own company.

Red71634163753373415Pink162116151111128Orange341125356590803826Brown16635419292597Yellow371565191474471914Green531190297436431614Blue371180254743132510Violet3412389191625149Neutral15826714141093

Darker cell — more plates pairing the two hues. Diagonal: same-hue pairings.

Data table

	Red	Pink	Orange	Brown	Yellow	Green	Blue	Violet	Neutral
Red	7	16	34	16	37	53	37	34	15
Pink	16	2	11	6	15	11	11	12	8
Orange	34	11	25	35	65	90	80	38	26
Brown	16	6	35	4	19	29	25	9	7
Yellow	37	15	65	19	14	74	47	19	14
Green	53	11	90	29	74	36	43	16	14
Blue	37	11	80	25	47	43	13	25	10
Violet	34	12	38	9	19	16	25	14	9
Neutral	15	8	26	7	14	14	10	9	3

Fig. 4 — Lightness × chroma

Every color in the dictionary, plotted by Lab lightness against chroma and drawn in its own ink. Only the yellows manage to be both bright and vivid — every other hue goes quiet as it lightens.

1007550250

← mutedchroma C*vivid →

vertical: lightness L*

Data table

Color	L*	C*
Hermosa Pink	83	22
Corinthian Pink	80	27
Cameo Pink	77	18
Fawn	74	15
Light Brown Drab	64	14
Coral Red	70	46
Fresh Color	71	46
Grenadine Pink	67	56
Eosine Pink	67	48
Spinel Red	65	53
Old Rose	59	44
Eugenia Red - A	58	58
Eugenia Red - B	54	60
Raw Sienna	55	58
Vinaceous Tawny	53	63
Jasper Red	57	82
Spectrum Red	50	87
Red Orange	52	79
Etruscan Red	51	55
Burnt Sienna	46	57
Ochre Red	47	42
Scarlet	47	68
Carmine	44	75
Indian Lake	48	58
Rosolanc Purple	46	52
Pomegranite Purple	41	62
Hydrangea Red	43	47
Brick Red	42	58
Carmine Red	39	56
Pompeian Red	39	60
Red	38	57
Brown	35	37
Hay's Russet	31	39
Vandyke Red	30	49
Pansy Purple	28	46
Pale Burnt Lake	30	45
Violet Red	28	35
Vistoris Lake	33	21
Sulpher Yellow	93	22
Pale Lemon Yellow	95	34
Naples Yellow	92	37
Ivory Buff	86	27
Seashell Pink	88	21
Light Pinkish Cinnamon	84	34
Pinkish Cinnamon	78	39
Cinnamon Buff	84	46
Cream Yellow	82	55
Golden Yellow	74	57
Vinaceous Cinnamon	75	35
Ochraceous Salmon	71	33
Isabella Color	70	34
Maple	68	34
Olive Buff	78	25
Ecru	72	17
Yellow	95	96
Lemon Yellow	93	78
Apricot Yellow	89	89
Pyrite Yellow	74	50
Olive Ocher	75	62
Yellow Ocher	76	63
Orange Yellow	78	81
Yellow Orange	73	79
Apricot Orange	69	62
Orange	64	80
Peach Red	59	79
English Red	57	69
Cinnamon Rufous	57	49
Orange Rufous	55	60
Sulphine Yellow	67	61
Khaki	61	57
Citron Yellow	72	60
Citrine	66	55
Buffy Citrine	57	33
Dark Citrine	55	23
Light Grayish Olive	53	17
Krongbergs Green	55	22
Olive	52	42
Orange Citrine	50	44
Sudan Brown	50	32
Olive Green	46	28
Light Brownish Olive	48	23
Deep Grayish Olive	39	20
Pale Raw Umber	37	27
Sepia	34	31
Madder Brown	29	43
Mars Brown Tobacco	28	36
Vandyke Brown	24	24
Turquoise Green	85	18
Glaucous Green	80	10
Dark Greenish Glaucous	77	14
Yellow Green	81	50
Light Green Yellow	81	63
Night Green	73	67
Olive Yellow	65	38
Artemesia Green	58	13
Andover Green	51	8
Rainette Green	64	26
Chromium Green	58	24
Pistachio Green	56	19
Sea Green	65	49
Benzol Green	54	55
Light Porcelain Green	53	38
Green	58	38
Dull Viridian Green	53	51
Oil Green	58	47
Diamine Green	43	40
Cossack Green	45	36
Lincoln Green	36	22
Blackish Olive	33	14
Deep Slate Olive	19	11
Nile Blue	88	14
Pale King's Blue	82	18
Light Glaucous Blue	78	14
Salvia Blue	69	17
Cobalt Green	79	29
Calamine Blue	77	28
Venice Green	74	32
Cerulian Blue	55	36
Peacock Blue	53	52
Green Blue	54	34
Olympic Blue	53	31
Blue	43	50
Antwarp Blue	42	40
Helvetia Blue	35	38
Dark Medici Blue	45	11
Dusky Green	28	36
Deep Lyons Blue	29	43
Violet Blue	30	23
Vandar Poel's Blue	31	27
Dark Tyrian Blue	21	20
Dull Violet Black	8	35
Deep Indigo	6	22
Deep Slate Green	17	12
Grayish Lavender - A	73	21
Grayish Lavender - B	71	10
Laelia Pink	67	24
Lilac	62	30
Eupatorium Purple	52	48
Light Mauve	54	34
Aconite Violet	53	38
Dull Blue Violet	50	26
Dark Soft Violet	44	34
Blue Violet	39	48
Purple Drab	42	21
Deep Violet / Plumbeous	48	6
Veronia Purple	41	30
Dark Slate Purple	34	23
Taupe Brown	36	26
Violet Carmine	32	26
Violet	31	43
Red Violet	25	45
Cotinga Purple	18	36
Dusky Madder Violet	20	34
White	100	0
Neutral Gray	77	4
Mineral Gray	71	6
Warm Gray	67	5
Slate Color	28	9
Black	6	1
Pale Purplish Vinaceous	92	11
Pale Cinnamon-Pink	91	13
Pale Ecru-Drab	75	8
Sea-foam Yellow	92	22
Dull Citrine	54	23
Pale Turtle Green	83	34
Grape Green	69	40
Pale King's Blue	96	7
Pale Methy Blue	68	32
Violet Ultramarine	28	85
Dark Perilla Purple	22	23
Dull Purplish Black	23	19

Fig. 5 — The palette by hue

How the colors distribute across hue families — greens and blues dominate, true purples are scarce.

Red

Pink

Orange

Brown

Yellow

Green

Blue

Violet

Neutral

Data table

Family	Colors
Red	26
Pink	6
Orange	25
Brown	22
Yellow	21
Green	31
Blue	17
Violet	16
Neutral	7

Fig. 6 — How big a palette runs

Colors per plate, both volumes on one scale. Vol. Ⅰ holds to duos, trios and quartets and stops dead at four; Vol. Ⅱ's applied patterns spill past it — four and five colors are the working range, and a few reach nine. Different jobs, different breadth.

Vol. ⅠVol. Ⅱ

2 colors

120

3 colors

120

4 colors

108

5 colors

6 colors

7 colors

8 colors

9 colors

Data table

Colors	Vol. Ⅰ	Vol. Ⅱ
2	120	4
3	120	51
4	108	68
5	0	53
6	0	40
7	0	12
8	0	4
9	0	1

Fig. 7 — Wada's calendar of color

Vol. Ⅱ opens with a year of color — twelve monthly schemes, six patterns each. Here every month's distinct colors, lightest first. Spring runs richest (March fields 33 colors); high summer pares back to barely twenty.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Data table

Month	Distinct colors
January	31
February	29
March	33
April	26
May	21
June	25
July	21
August	23
September	21
October	25
November	24
December	23

Fig. 8 — The hands behind Vol. Ⅱ

The applied plates were designed by a named studio of artists — fourteen of them share the 135 credited patterns, each shown with the color they reached for most. The most prolific signed thirty, nearly a quarter of the section.

木下茂

八島進

細野尚志

稗田研二

岡部義郎

熊田早苗

寺尾作次郎

荒木明

吉村幸一郎

和田三造

西野弘

小林太郎

松川桀二

吉村功一郎

Data table

Designer	Patterns	Signature
木下茂	30	White
八島進	19	White
細野尚志	19	Black
稗田研二	15	Spectrum Red
岡部義郎	13	White
熊田早苗	7	Black
寺尾作次郎	7	Black
荒木明	6	Black
吉村幸一郎	5	Dark Medici Blue
和田三造	4	Black
西野弘	3	Chromium Green
小林太郎	3	Spectrum Red
松川桀二	2	Red Orange
吉村功一郎	2	Eugenia Red - B

Fig. 9 — What Wada called them

The last character of each Japanese color name. Beyond plain 色 “color”, the palette is steeped in 茶 tea browns and 鼠 mouse grays — Edo-period naming at work.

色iro

103

茶cha

鼠nezumi

紫murasaki

other

Data table

Ending	Reading	Names
色	iro — “color”	103
茶	cha — “tea”	19
鼠	nezumi — “mouse gray”	10
紫	murasaki — “purple”	6
other	everything else	33

Fig. 10 — How hues pair — Vol. Ⅱ

The same co-occurrence as Fig. 3, now across Vol. Ⅱ's 233 applied patterns. Their palettes run to nine colors, so almost every hue meets every other and the grid fills in where Vol. Ⅰ's stayed sparse — applied design mixes far more freely than the plates.

Red172677416568732290Pink263715242831834Orange7737404962861062388Brown4115499355744934Yellow652462352184752383Green682886578444702299Blue73311064475705824108Violet228239232224817Neutral9034883483991081761

Darker cell — more plates pairing the two hues. Diagonal: same-hue pairings.

Data table

	Red	Pink	Orange	Brown	Yellow	Green	Blue	Violet	Neutral
Red	17	26	77	41	65	68	73	22	90
Pink	26	0	37	15	24	28	31	8	34
Orange	77	37	40	49	62	86	106	23	88
Brown	41	15	49	9	35	57	44	9	34
Yellow	65	24	62	35	21	84	75	23	83
Green	68	28	86	57	84	44	70	22	99
Blue	73	31	106	44	75	70	58	24	108
Violet	22	8	23	9	23	22	24	8	17
Neutral	90	34	88	34	83	99	108	17	61

Fig. 11 — Where Vol. Ⅱ's color goes to work

Past the twelve months, Vol. Ⅱ sorts its patterns by application — clothing and kimono take the largest share, with print, ceramics and woven textiles the smaller fields. Each is shown as its own palette, lightest first, with its pattern count.

Clothes, Accessories50

Kimono32

Others26

Book Design, Poster, Wrapping Paper22

Earthenware, Lacquerware21

Tapestry, Carpets10

Data table

Application	Patterns	Colors
Clothes, Accessories	50	85
Kimono	32	82
Others	26	80
Book Design, Poster, Wrapping Paper	22	58
Earthenware, Lacquerware	21	47
Tapestry, Carpets	10	34

Fig. 12 — The seasonal light curve

Average Lab lightness of each month's colors — the light arc behind Fig. 7's calendar, higher meaning paler. April and August turn palest, October darkest: a month-by-month swing rather than a smooth seasonal curve.

JFMAMJJASOND

Data table

Month	Avg L*
January	63
February	57
March	57
April	69
May	60
June	62
July	58
August	69
September	59
October	56
November	58
December	59

Fig. 13 — How light each hue runs

Average lightness of every hue family. Pinks, yellows and oranges sit near paper; violets and blues brood darkest — the vertical spread Fig. 4 fans into a cloud, here reduced to nine marks.

Red

Pink

Orange

Brown

Yellow

Green

Blue

Violet

Neutral

Data table

Family	Avg L*
Red	46
Pink	73
Orange	71
Brown	46
Yellow	72
Green	61
Blue	45
Violet	39
Neutral	60

Fig. 14 — Which colors carry text

Every color read as a background: whether black or white body text clears WCAG AA (4.5 : 1) on it. Remarkably, all 171 carry one or the other — the lighter two-thirds take black, the darker third white, and just two sit on the seam where either works.

Black text

107

White text

Either

Data table

Body text	Colors
Black text	107
White text	62
Either	2