compare culture of colors

Each culture has color associations. For example, in Europe purple is associated with death, but in the U.S. purple is associated with fantasy like king & queen. The U.S. and Japan have similar associations of color. For example, �”stop sign” is red here and in Japan, too. “Traffic signal” has three colors. Green means you can go; yellow means you should take care, and red means you should stop here and in Japan, too. Like that, there are many similar association of color between the U.S. and Japan. However some things are different in the U.S. and Japan.

First, in the U.S. postal boxes color is blue, but in Japan it colors is red. Why are postal boxes red in Japan? Because people can find that easily, postal boxes’ color has become red in Japan. At the beginning of appearance of postal boxes, its color was black, but it is hard to find that in the night, so postal boxes’ color changed from black to red in Japan.
Second, when someone dies, people use black in funerals in the U.S., but in Japan people use black and white. Why do Japanese people use black and white in funerals? There is because in Japan white expresses death. However, since the culture of Western Europe came, people have used these colors in funerals. Therefore people use black and white in funerals in Japan.

Third, when someone is married, people use white in weddings in the U.S., but in Japan people use white and red. Why do Japanese people use white and red in weddings? Because red expresses birth and white expresses death, so Japanese people regard these colors as good colors. Therefore people use red and white in weddings in Japan.

By to contrasting cultures, you can discover new things in your own culture.