JNat Colors, A Visual Glossary

[Steve56]

Questions and comments about JNat colors and color terminology come up pretty often, so I put together a series of images that might help people understand the colors and terminology.

Getting the color rendition correct across digital devices is maybe impossible, so each image contains several examples and most of the stones have a wet area, so at least a relative comparison can be made. Nature of course, made a continuous spectrum of stone colors, it is humans that put the colors into categories, and that has a wide margin of error too.

I’m starting off with a favorite color, kiita. Kiita means ‘yellow board’ in English, because the stones looked like pieces of yellowish wood when they were laid out on a table or shelf. As it is currently used, or should be used, kiita is a stone that’s mostly yellow. The first image is what I would call a classic kiita, a yellow stone that doesn’t have much of any other color in it. Maybe lighter or darker, but still mostly yellow. The second image is reddish kiita, which makes an orange-ish and very attractive colored stone, and the third image is of greenish kiita, also sometimes called lime kiita.

 

[Steve56]

Next up, blue/green colors. Thefirst image is asagi, or blue-ish stones in the West, though they can be a certain yellowish color too, in Japan. Second image, greenish stones or ‘green board’ as the translation is frequently seen. Third, ’seaweed’ color, a greenish brown. They have a word for this color, but it escapes me at the time.

 

[Steve56]

First image habutae, or a white-ish stone named after fine kimono silk. these may not be spot on for the color that you see, but they’re very close to colorless. Second image, iromono, or multicolored, third image, murasaki or strawberry color, and last, what’s translated as ‘withered’ color, a light tan and frequently called kiita, but there’s no yellow in them.

 

[Titleist]

What a great and informative thread. My one and only JNAT is a Nakayama Honyama Kiita. I've had it for over a decade now and it's all that I use.

Good show @Steve56 !!!

 

[Steve56]

Thank you Frank!

 

[HazMat Shaver]

Very nice Steve. Now quit playing around with all my jnats and ship them back to me.

Loli like the greenish colors

 

[Frank Shaves]

Excellent thread - thanks for posting, Steve!

 

[Legion]

This will be a handy resource. Thanks.

 

[alex1921]

Steve, those 2 prismatic ones are really something.

 

[duke762]

Thank you Frank. Loving this thread! Wish I wasn't so color blind....

 

[MasterOfPups]

Great stuff !
Sometimes kiita can be hard to determine - one bit of advice I have seen is to slurry it with a diamond plate and see if it slurries yellow or gray.

 

[Steve56]

Thank you gents!

 

[MasterOfPups]

Is the strawberry color considered to be red pin, or is that a different thing altogether ?

 

[Toro Blanco]

Outstanding collection! Simply stunning.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jakebullet]

Great collection!

 

[lloydw]

Really cool - I think the ‘green board‘ are my favorite to look at. I havent seen these before

 

[Empire straights]

Great stuff !
Sometimes kiita can be hard to determine - one bit of advice I have seen is to slurry it with a diamond plate and see if it slurries yellow or gray.

I never heard this but it makes sense. The two I have slurry almost school bus yellow. Or old rain boots, puddle hoppers

 

[Empire straights]

Is the strawberry color considered to be red pin, or is that a different thing altogether ?

I love how the strawberry ones look..I don't believe I have any red hones.

 

[Steve56]

Is the strawberry color considered to be red pin, or is that a different thing altogether ?

It’s different, the murasaki (strawberry) has a bit of purple in it that shifts the color from red.

 

[Wid]

Thank Steve, I'll be referring to this is thread in my jnat journey