Edo era
Light Pink & Tea— 薄紅と茶
A whisper of pink against tea brown — the tone of an Edo-period lacquer sweet box.
#E8A4A4
red · 1 palette
Usubeni
薄紅
Light red
About Usubeni
Usubeni (薄紅) is a light, vivid red tone. Its hex value is #E8A4A4 — that is
RGB 232, 164, 164, or HSL 0°, 60%, 78%.
Light red.
It holds 10.3:1 contrast against dark, so Usubeni works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 2.0:1; on black 10.3:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Usubeni appears in 1 combination — most often paired with Cha and Kinari.
Colours that go with Usubeni
From a standard colour wheel, Usubeni anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#E8A4A4 #A4E8E8
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#E8A4A4 #E8A4C6 #E8C6A4
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#E8A4A4 #A4E8A4 #A4A4E8
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#E8A4A4 #A4E8C6 #A4C6E8
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Usubeni
Usubeni is a light, vivid tone (HSL 0°, 60%, 78%), which makes it a soft background or a light accent. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a dark background (10.3:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#A4E8E8) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#E8A4C6 and #E8C6A4) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Palettes with Usubeni
Usubeni 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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- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
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- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
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