White is one of the world’s most universal colors, evoking light, stillness, purity, and new beginnings.

In ancient Egypt, white linen was used for clothing and rituals, accompanying everyday life as a color associated with purity and light.

In ancient Greece, marble architecture and sculpture conveyed the balance and quiet beauty of white stone. Although many works were originally painted, the marble surfaces that lost their color left a lasting impression on later Western culture, shaping the ideal of “white beauty.”

In India, white has appeared in cultural traditions as a color associated with purity and peace. The Taj Mahal, built from white marble, is renowned for its architecture, which changes in appearance with the light. In French art and fashion, too, white has long been cherished as a color that expresses light and elegance.

Rather than creating splendor by adding something, white can bring out the beauty of form, material, and light itself by stripping away the unnecessary.

In Japanese aesthetics, white is also deeply connected with negative space and stillness. From white gravel gardens, washi paper, and white ceramics to white walls and the shiromuku bridal kimono, white creates a quiet sense of openness, leaving room for the viewer’s own sensibility to enter.

A blank sheet of white paper is not a place where nothing exists. It is a space where something new can be created.

The meanings entrusted to white differ across the world’s cultures. Sensing these differences also means becoming more aware of the subtle changes in light, materials, and space.

Passed down through the histories and aesthetic traditions of cultures around the world, white continues to offer us the freedom to create new beauty from within the quiet presence of light.