A Dictionary of Color Combinations by Sanzo Wada | Volumes 1 & 2

Before color palettes could be generated with a click, Japanese artist and color theorist Sanzo Wada was carefully studying how colors behave together.

First published in the 1930s, Wada’s influential Haishoku Sōkan presented color not as a set of isolated shades, but as relationships: unexpected harmonies, subtle contrasts, and combinations capable of creating a particular mood. Created during Japan’s rapidly changing Taishō and early Shōwa eras, his palettes feel unmistakably of their time—yet remarkably fresh in contemporary design.

A Dictionary of Color Combinations brings Wada’s pioneering color research to a new generation of artists, designers, illustrators, stylists, and anyone who simply enjoys looking closely at color.

Volume 1 contains 348 two-, three-, and four-color combinations, accompanied by removable color chips and modern color references. Its compact pages move from restrained, quietly balanced palettes to combinations that feel surprising, eccentric, or boldly modern.

Volume 2 expands beyond the abstract palette. It includes 72 combinations inspired by the twelve months and seasons of Japan, along with 165 examples drawn from early twentieth-century fashion, interiors, and graphic design. These historically grounded arrangements offer a particularly rich resource for recreating the atmosphere of Taishō and early Shōwa visual culture.

Use the books as practical references for painting, illustration, textiles, interiors, branding, photography, or everyday creative work—or simply browse them as miniature archives of Japanese color history.

Explore both volumes of Sanzo Wada’s enduring guide to the art of seeing colors together.