Perceived density,a further attribute of color,revealed by the colors favored in Japan

Colors can be characterized by three main attributes: hue, value, and saturation. But colors also exhibit other phenomenological qualities. In this study, we identify one such secondary attribute of color: perceived density. We discuss the prevalence of dense colors in Japan starting from the “48 Teas and 100 Mice” colors of the Edo period, and develop the concept of perceived density through this aspect of Japanese color preference. When vivid colors were forbidden to commoners during the Edo period, subtle variations of brownish and grayish colors were created. These colors with base tones were not salient, yet they looked dense. Muted colors with paradoxical richness are still common in Japan today. Japanese commodity design often uses muddy colors with white or gray undertones, and deep colors with black undertones. Together they form distinct groupings of relatively dense color. The perceived density of color corresponds to how dense and filled, or thin and airy a color appears. Colors of higher perceived density appear to be more packed and to have mass. Perceived density of color is unusual in that it does not have a monotonic relationship with one of the primary perceptual attributes. High apparent density is observed in a central region of an equi‐hue plane where value or saturation are at intermediate values. We consider two possible explanations of how high values of density can coincide with middling values of value and saturation: characteristics of the spectral reflectance curves, or the complexity of the neural signals that underlie the emergent property.