Heian era
Pink Dianthus & Water— 撫子と水色
The soft pink of wild dianthus beside the translucent blue of mountain water.
#B4D6E5
blue · 1 palette
Mizu-iro
水色
Water blue
About Mizu-iro
Mizu-iro (水色) is a light, muted blue tone. Its hex value is #B4D6E5 — that is
RGB 180, 214, 229, or HSL 198°, 49%, 80%.
Water blue.
It holds 13.7:1 contrast against dark, so Mizu-iro works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 1.5:1; on black 13.7:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Mizu-iro appears in 1 combination — most often paired with Nadeshiko and Kinari.
Colours that go with Mizu-iro
From a standard colour wheel, Mizu-iro anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#B4D6E5 #E5C3B4
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#B4D6E5 #B4E5DC #B4BDE5
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#B4D6E5 #E5B4D6 #D6E5B4
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#B4D6E5 #E5B4BD #E5DCB4
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Mizu-iro
Mizu-iro is a light, muted tone (HSL 198°, 49%, 80%), which makes it a soft background or a light accent. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a dark background (13.7:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use dark lettering. Pair it with its complement (#E5C3B4) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#B4E5DC and #B4BDE5) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Palettes with Mizu-iro
Mizu-iro appears in 1 combination from the archive. For how usage like this compares across the whole dictionary, see the data analysis of all 348 plates.
From the archive
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- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
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- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
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