The red walls of the Meigetsu-in temple envelop Kamakura’s landscape in a delicate round frame. The room was designed to convey the eternal truths of Zen to the wise samurai warriors. In Japan, red carries a lot of significance and is perceived as the colour of the sun as well as happiness and auspiciousness. Even Japanese flag bears a simple crimson circle on the white background.
In fact, in most Eastern as well as Western cultures, this hot colour symbolises passion, energy and action. People often wear red clothes and wrap gifts in red packages for good luck.
It is remarkable that colours can have a pronounced effect on the physical state of the viewer. Researchers were able to detect an increase in metabolism, respiration and blood pressure when people see Red. It is only natural, since Red lies on the very end of the visible light spectrum, making it an extreme colour at the very fabric of the physical world.
