Color Culture of Japanese Medieval Age: Focusing on Kamakura & Muromachi Periods

This study investigated the color culture in the Japanese Medieval Age. The Japanese Medieval Age included the Kamakura period (1180-1333) and Muromachi period (1336-1573), and the leading group transitioned from the Kuge families to the Buke families. The taboos about colors from ancient times became nominal, and forbidden colors, such as purple, celadon, and red, became the colors of the samurai, leading to beautiful soldier gears that were unparalleled in history. In the Kamakura period, colors that conveyed a strong impression were created and preferred with the combination of a samurai's reasonable spirit and zen thoughts. The period was also called "the era of hari", and cross dyeing based on basic colors such as suou (red), ai (blue), and kuchinasi (yellow) was popular. In both the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, conspicuous and strong colors were sought for costumes, and embroidery was used with gold leaf, silver leaf, gold threads, silver threads, and background color. The colors of costume preferred by Buke men in the period included green, blue, and brown. In the characteristics of the kosode, the sugan and hitadare were used for men's formal dress, while kosode was used for the grooming of the working class. In these periods, additionally, the working class began to be socially engaged in actively wearing the one-layer kosode, which became popular, and the characteristics of the Japanese Medieval Age, during which functionality and practicality was valued, were also reflected in the dressing.

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