Was there ever a blue traffic light

ANYONE who has travelled to Japan may have noticed something odd about the traffic lights.

Table of Contents Show

Most Read in Fabulous
Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel – and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.
Why are there no blue traffic lights?
What is a blue light on a traffic light?
Who uses blue traffic lights?
Why does Japan have a blue traffic light?

Instead of the standard red, yellow and green, the Japanese lights have a BLUE go light.

A blue traffic light in JapanCredit: Alamy

But it’s nothing to do with the wiring – it’s all to do with the Japanese language.

It stems from the fact that there used to be one word for both blue and green.

Hundreds of years ago, the language had words for four basic colours – black, white, red, and blue – so anything green was described using the word for blue, “ao.”

At the end of the first millennium, the word “midori” - originally meaning “sprout” – began to be used for green but it was considered a shade of “ao” and the overlap of the two is still evident in modern day Japan.

For example, grocers frequently refer to apples as “ao” instead of “midori,” according to Atlas Obscura.

Street lights in Nikko are a distinct hue of blueCredit: Flickr/ Antti T. Nissinen

Similarly, in both official documents and conversation, the “green” traffic light is referenced as ao, rather than midori.

Even though the first traffic lights in Japan, introduced in the 1930s, were green they were referred to as “blue” and this got the government in trouble with linguists.

Rather than changing the official descriptions, they decided to change the lights while trying to stick as close as possible to international law,

In 1973, a government mandate declared that the traffic lights should be the bluest shade of green that they could get.

Even today, Learners looking to pass their driving test must first prove they can distinguish between red, yellow and blue.

While an international convention on traffic light colours, ratified by 74 countries, dictates the red, yellow and green colours, Japan has not signed it.

We recently revealed the real reason the I'm A Celeb stars wear red socks.

There's also a reason why advent calendar chocolates taste different.

Bizarre cloud seen plunging from the sky like a massive snake shocks locals in Japan

Japanese traffic light | © Martin Abegglen / Flickr

When asked about the colors of a traffic light, most English speakers would reply “red, yellow, and green.” But ask someone in Japan and they will tell you “red, yellow, and blue.” While this may sound strange, there is in fact a linguistic reason for it — midori (緑), the word for green in Japanese, didn’t exist before the 8th century.

Linguists believe that the words for different colors in a language evolved in stages. In the earliest stages, a language begins to distinguish between dark and light colors, or “black” and “white.” “Red” is the next color term to be distinguished. More than a few scholars have noted that the ancient Greek poet Homer, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, used very few color terms in his descriptions. Throughout his works Homer sticks mostly to black, white, and the occasional red, which includes calling the sea “wine dark.”

“Green” is the next color term that evolves in a language — possibly because it’s complementary to the color red — which then splits into separate words for “yellow” and “green.” And then, in the next stage, the color term “blue” comes into use, followed by colors like brown, orange, pink, and purple. While the order is not exact, especially in the latter stages, most languages generally followed this order as they evolved.

However, this wasn’t the case in Japan.

For whatever reason, only four colors existed in Japanese for a very long time: black, white, red, and blue. Red was used to distinguish warm hues and blue was used for cold hues. As there were only four colors in Japanese at the time, this meant that the ranges for reds and blues were much broader than they are today. So the color “ao“ (青) or “blue” was traditionally used to refer to both blue and green.

The first references to the color “midori“ (緑) or “green” appeared in written texts around the Heian period. However, by that time, the Japanese language had already developed around the use of the word “blue” to describe objects with cool color tones, such as leafy green vegetables (ao yasai), green apples (ao ringo), and even green seaweed (ao nori).

Due to this peculiar language quirk, Japanese speakers today still frequently refer to shades that English speakers would consider green as “blue.” Interestingly enough, Japanese traffic lights are actually the bluest shade of green legally possible. Japan is also one of the few countries in the world that hasn’t signed the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, which among other things specifies that traffic lights must be red, amber (yellow), and green.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Epic Trips, Mini Trips and Sailing Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travellers and friends who want to explore the world together.

Epic Trips are deeply immersive 8 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and enough down time to really relax and soak it all in. Our Mini Trips are small and mighty - they squeeze all the excitement and authenticity of our longer Epic Trips into a manageable 3-5 day window. Our Sailing Trips invite you to spend a week experiencing the best of the sea and land in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm – and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.

Why are there no blue traffic lights?

It stems from the fact that there used to be one word for both blue and green. Hundreds of years ago, the language had words for four basic colours – black, white, red, and blue – so anything green was described using the word for blue, “ao.”

What is a blue light on a traffic light?

A confirmation light is a blue light located on the back of the traffic signal mast arm and is used by law enforcement to identify red light-running vehicles. The confirmation light is wired into the red light circuits of the signal and comes on simultaneously with the red indication.

Who uses blue traffic lights?

"In fact, they are there to serve one purpose: for law enforcement officers to conduct traffic enforcement." The blue lights are in sync with a red traffic signal, allowing officers to see a violation occur.

Why does Japan have a blue traffic light?

Red was used to distinguish warm hues and blue was used for cold hues. As there were only four colors in Japanese at the time, this meant that the ranges for reds and blues were much broader than they are today. So the color “ao“ (青) or “blue” was traditionally used to refer to both blue and green.