What Color Is Ainezu? Its Color Code and Calm Color Scheme Examples

Ainezu (藍鼠), also called ainezumi, is a traditional Japanese gray with an indigo-blue cast. It has more blue than a neutral gray but is less intense than a deep indigo. This article uses ainezu ■#6C848D as a reference swatch and shows how its subdued color can work in practical website layouts. Traditional color names do not always correspond to one fixed digital value, so the code used here is one specific example.

Ainezu’s color code and how it differs from gray and indigo

Our example of ainezu ■#6C848D has RGB values of red 108, green 132, and blue 141. RGB represents colors with three components of light, each measured from 0 to 255. HEX is a six-digit code of letters and numbers that expresses the corresponding color on the web. The green and blue values are higher than red, giving this gray its bluish appearance.

Compare it with a neutral medium gray ■#808080 and a deeper indigo-blue example ■#234B6A. In the neutral gray, the red, green, and blue values are equal. Ainezu has a modest blue cast, whereas the deeper indigo example looks darker and has a stronger blue presence. These are example swatches for comparison, not universally fixed definitions of their color names.

Two calm palettes for a bookshop and an event banner

Example 1: A secondhand bookshop’s book listings. Use an extremely pale gray ■#F2F5F4 for the main page background, deep blue-gray ■#203643 for headings, and charcoal ■#26343D for body text. The contrast ratio between the headings and background is approximately 11.46:1. A contrast ratio measures the difference in relative brightness between neighboring colors such as text and its background.

Place book-cover images on white ■#FFFFFF cards, outlined with ainezu ■#6C848D. The outlines contrast by approximately 3.60:1 with the outer pale background ■#F2F5F4 and 3.95:1 with the white ■#FFFFFF inside. Use charcoal ■#26343D for descriptions on the white cards, with approximately 12.80:1 contrast. A “View Details” button can have a deep blue-gray ■#203643 background and white ■#FFFFFF text, for approximately 12.57:1. In this layout, ainezu organizes card boundaries instead of being used for long passages of text.

Example 2: A book-club announcement banner. Fill the banner with ainezu ■#6C848D, then put a large white ■#FFFFFF heading such as “Autumn Book Club” on top. The contrast ratio is approximately 3.95:1, so this treatment is intended for large text—at least 24px at regular weight—not ordinary-sized body text. Move smaller details such as the event date and joining instructions into a pale-gray ■#F2F5F4 panel, using deep blue-gray ■#203643 text for approximately 11.46:1 contrast.

Place the registration button inside that pale panel too, with a deep blue-gray ■#203643 background and white ■#FFFFFF lettering for approximately 12.57:1 contrast. Ainezu creates the overall atmosphere, while the details and primary action remain on a lighter surface.

Check contrast carefully when using ainezu for text

Normal-sized white ■#FFFFFF text on an ainezu ■#6C848D background provides only approximately 3.95:1 contrast. Likewise, using ainezu ■#6C848D for small body text on pale gray ■#F2F5F4 gives approximately 3.60:1. Neither meets the minimum for ordinary text. Use a darker text color or adjust the background rather than assuming a muted palette is automatically readable.

WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) requires at least 4.5:1 contrast for normal text and 3:1 for large text at Level AA. Non-text information needed to recognize a control or a meaningful boundary may also need at least 3:1 against adjacent colors. Very thin lines may still be hard to see even when their calculated contrast meets a threshold, so check their weight and actual on-screen presentation.

HueRoll lets you enter a HEX code and check a selected color’s contrast against white and black. It cannot directly compare arbitrary pairs of colors or automatically determine AA compliance, so verify the suggested combinations separately.