Edo era
Pale Blue & Vermillion— 浅葱と朱
The faded blue of Shinsengumi jackets against shrine-gate vermillion — restrained power.
#D8453A
red · 3 palettes
Shu
朱
Shrine vermillion
About Shu
Shu (朱) is a mid-tone, vivid red tone. Its hex value is #D8453A — that is
RGB 216, 69, 58, or HSL 4°, 67%, 54%.
Shrine vermillion.
It holds 4.8:1 contrast against dark, so Shu works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 4.3:1; on black 4.8:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Shu appears in 3 combinations — most often paired with Gofun, Asagi and Sumi.
The story of Shu
Shu (朱) is the bright orange-red of cinnabar pigment — mercury sulfide ground to powder and bound in lacquer. It's a mineral, not a dye, which gives it a luminous, almost glowing quality that no purely-red pigment can match. Shu is the colour of Shinto torii gates, temple pillars, ceremonial bowls, and the lacquerware traditions of Wajima and Kyoto.
Culturally it carries a completely different register from the textile reds: shu signals the sacred, the threshold, and the protective. The red lacquer on a temple gate is not decoration — it is a colour with apotropaic function. In contemporary design it works for hospitality, religious or wellness brands, and any project that needs to feel 'doorway' or 'entrance.'
Working note: Three-colour palette: shu, ink-black (sumi), and gold leaf — the temple-architecture combination. Reads as ceremonial without reading as tourist.
See Shu in the Japanese Color Glossary →
How often colors like this recur across the 348 plates — the data analysis →
Colours that go with Shu
From a standard colour wheel, Shu anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#D8453A #3ACDD8
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#D8453A #D83A7E #D8943A
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#D8453A #3AD845 #453AD8
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#D8453A #3AD894 #3A7ED8
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Shu
Shu is a mid-tone, vivid tone (HSL 4°, 67%, 54%), which makes it a versatile mid-tone for accents, buttons or blocks. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a dark background (4.8:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#3ACDD8) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#D83A7E and #D8943A) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Studio
Taking Shu off the screen
A hex code is an instruction to a screen, not a colour. Where this one is going decides what it needs next.
Affiliate links — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
-
...onto paper
Start here if the palette gets printed. Screen colour and ink colour are not the same colour, and this is the deck that translates between them.
Listed on Amazon as Pantone GP6102B Color Bridge Guide Set Coated & Uncoated, Multi-Colour
See price on Amazon -
...onto a screen you can trust
Start here if it stays digital. An uncalibrated monitor is the single most common reason a palette that looked right on your desk looks wrong everywhere else.
Calibrite
ColorChecker Studio spectrophotometer
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite ColorChecker Studio Spectrophotometer for Complete Color Management for Display, Projector, Printer and Scanner Profiling
See price on Amazon -
...by hand
Start here if you are mixing it. Wada's plates were flat printed colour; gansai pans are the closest everyday medium to them.
Kuretake
Gansai Tambi 36
Listed on Amazon as Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI Watercolor Paint Set 36 Colors
See price on Amazon
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Palettes with Shu
Shu appears in 3 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours. For how usage like this compares across the whole dictionary, see the data analysis of all 348 plates.
Questions about Shu
- What is the hex code for Shu?
- Shu (朱) is #D8453A. Shrine vermillion It appears in 3 historical color combinations from Sanzo Wada's 1933 "A Dictionary of Color Combinations".
- What does Shu look like on white and black backgrounds?
- Shu (#D8453A) has a WCAG contrast ratio of 4.35:1 against white (#FFFFFF) and 4.83:1 against black (#000000). WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
- Where does the color Shu come from?
- Shu is documented in Sanzo Wada's "A Dictionary of Color Combinations" (1933, Seigensha Art Publishing 2010 reprint). Wada catalogued red pigments and historical Japanese color terms. The source work is in the public domain.
- Can I use Shu in my own design or brand?
- Yes. The color name and hex value (#D8453A) are factual data — not copyrightable. Our curation and descriptions are CC BY 4.0 licensed.
From the archive
Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.
- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
- Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
- CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
- 378 SVG plates (348 Wada + 30 editorial) — print-ready at any size
- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
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