Minimalist Japanese Wallpapers

Less is more. Set a fine, repeating wagara in a soft tone for a minimalist look — recolor to greys, indigo or off-white and preview it live.

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.