Black & Sumi Japanese Wallpapers

Sumi — black ink — gives wagara a bold, modern edge. These patterns are shown in a black colorway; tap a design to preview or recolor.

麻の葉 Asano-ha

Asanoha is a six-fold star geometry that echoes the leaf of the hemp plant — one of the most recognisable of all Japanese patterns (wagara).

Kikkou is a honeycomb of hexagons named for the shell of a tortoise, often filled with a small flower.

Ichimatsu is the simple two-color chequerboard — endlessly continuous and quietly bold.

Uroko fills the surface with triangles read as the scales of a snake, fish or dragon.

Yagasuri is a field of arrow feathers (fletching), usually shown as bold vertical bands.

Hishi is a lattice of slim diamonds (rhombi) derived from the leaf of the water caltrop.

Kanoko is a field of small tie-dyed dots that resemble the dappled back of a fawn.

Kuginuki takes its shape from the washer of a traditional nail-puller — a square frame around a diamond.

Kouji-tsunagi links the character 工 ('work') along the diagonal into a continuous key-fret.

Same-komon is an ultra-fine field of dots arranged in fan-shaped arcs, like shark skin.

Ryusuimon depicts flowing water as soft, curling streams and eddies.