Edo era
Kite Brown & Gold— 鳶と黄金
The warm brown of a kite's wing lit by afternoon gold.
#8A5A3B
brown · 1 palette
Tobi
鳶
Kite brown
About Tobi
Tobi (鳶) is a deep, muted brown tone. Its hex value is #8A5A3B — that is
RGB 138, 90, 59, or HSL 24°, 40%, 39%.
Kite brown.
It holds 5.8:1 contrast against white, so Tobi works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 5.8:1; on black 3.6:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Tobi appears in 1 combination — most often paired with Kogane and Sumi.
The story of Tobi
Tobi (鳶) takes its name from the Japanese black kite, the bird whose wing colour the dye-makers were trying to match. The result is a warm ink-brown — darker than chocolate, redder than sepia, with a particular rust undertone that reads as weathered rather than aged. It's a workhorse warm-axis colour: traditional craft objects, lacquerware bases, leather tones in Edo-period merchant clothing.
Tobi anchors the warm side of a wabi-sabi palette without pulling toward saturation. It's the colour that lets a cream anchor and a celadon mid-tone read as 'tea ceremony' rather than 'Scandinavian.' Modern usage: heritage food brands, leather and craft goods, restaurant identity for places trading on age.
See Tobi in the Japanese Color Glossary →
How often colors like this recur across the 348 plates — the data analysis →
Colours that go with Tobi
From a standard colour wheel, Tobi anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#8A5A3B #3B6B8A
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#8A5A3B #8A3B43 #8A823B
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#8A5A3B #3B8A5A #5A3B8A
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#8A5A3B #3B8A82 #3B438A
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Tobi
Tobi is a deep, muted tone (HSL 24°, 40%, 39%), which makes it a versatile mid-tone for accents, buttons or blocks. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a light background (5.8:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#3B6B8A) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#8A3B43 and #8A823B) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Studio
Taking Tobi 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.
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...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.
Pantone
Color Bridge Guide — coated
Listed on Amazon as Pantone Color Bridge Guide Coated | Pantone to CMYK, RGB & HTML Color Matching Fan Deck for Graphic Design, Branding & Print | GG6103B
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
Display Plus HL colorimeter kit
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite Video Photo Kit with Display Plus HL Colorimeter and ColorChecker Passport Video 2, 10,000 Nit Monitor Calibration, Camera Color Matching
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 24 — Art Nouveau
Listed on Amazon as Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI Watercolor Paint Set 24 Colors II - Art Nouveau
See price on Amazon
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Palettes with Tobi
Tobi 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.
Questions about Tobi
- What is the hex code for Tobi?
- Tobi (鳶) is #8A5A3B. Kite brown It appears in 1 historical color combination from Sanzo Wada's 1933 "A Dictionary of Color Combinations".
- What does Tobi look like on white and black backgrounds?
- Tobi (#8A5A3B) has a WCAG contrast ratio of 5.82:1 against white (#FFFFFF) and 3.61:1 against black (#000000). WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
- Where does the color Tobi come from?
- Tobi is documented in Sanzo Wada's "A Dictionary of Color Combinations" (1933, Seigensha Art Publishing 2010 reprint). Wada catalogued brown pigments and historical Japanese color terms. The source work is in the public domain.
- Can I use Tobi in my own design or brand?
- Yes. The color name and hex value (#8A5A3B) are factual data — not copyrightable. Our curation and descriptions are CC BY 4.0 licensed.
From the archive
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