Gray in Japanese
Gray in Japanese is 灰色 (hai-iro / ash color) or グレー (gurē). Same as "grey" — only the English spelling differs. Traditional grays include a large Edo-period naming context often discussed alongside sumptuary restrictions.
Modern katakana loanword from English. Used in product naming, fashion, and casual conversation.
What “gray” covers in Japanese.
- 灰色 (hai-iro) — "ash color", the everyday Japanese word.
- グレー (gurē) — katakana loanword.
- Edo 百鼠 (hyaku-nezu) — "a hundred grays", a shorthand for many fine gray names.
How to use it in a sentence.
- 灰色 and グレー are nouns; modify with の.
- Use 灰色の: 灰色の雲 (hai-iro no kumo) — "gray cloud".
What the color carries beyond the swatch.
- Edo sumptuary restrictions are often discussed alongside 百鼠 (hyaku-nezu) — many named grays — and 四十八茶 (forty-eight browns).
- 鈍色 is a muted gray associated with Heian-era mourning robe vocabulary.
- 銀鼠 (gin-nezu) is the silver gray used in formal kimono.
Specific named traditional colors — not a single hex.
How do you say gray in Japanese?
灰色 (hai-iro) is the native word. グレー (gurē) is the loanword. Same as "grey" — only the English spelling differs.
Is there a difference between grey and gray in Japanese?
No. Both English spellings translate to the same Japanese words: 灰色 and グレー.
What are the Edo period grays?
百鼠 (hyaku-nezu) refers to the fine gray-name distinctions associated with Edo-period taste and sumptuary contexts.
Traditional color values vary by source, textile, pigment, era, and screen display. HEX values are digital approximations; see the methodology for source-status tiers.