Japanese Cat Names

Japanese cat names are an interesting window onto the culture. Are you looking for a Japanese name for your kitten?  Or maybe you've seen a famous cat or two in manga or anime and are curious about what sort of names Japanese people choose for their feline friends.  Whatever the basis for your curiosity, I'll do my best to share what I've learned as an animal lover living in Japan since 1997.  I've enlisted the help of Japanese friends in this pursuit, to be sure that my understanding squares with theirs, and ended up learning as well as confirming a lot in the process!

Let's look at some names for male and female cats. More than just giving a name with a translation,  I want to pass along some related information that will give you a better idea of naming conventions in Japan so that if you're looking for a name, you'll have more confidence in going with your inspiration and choosing something whether it's on a list or not.  

I also want to introduce you to katakana, the relatively simple Japanese syllabary that's most often used to write pet names.  And I'll mention a point that's often overlooked, natural intonation so that when you call to your cat, it sounds pretty much the same as it would if the owner were a native speaker.  We'll also take a look at an important aspect of names in general in Japan, suffixes that add warmth and familiarity when used.

Foreign Pet Names-It Goes Both Ways

So let's dive in. First off, it's worth noting that In Japan, pet owners sometimes choose a western name over a Japanese one for the same reason you might be considering something Japanese-it's a novel way to express your interest in a culture outside your own and to be a bit different.

And when Japanese people choose a western name for a pet, it's often a person's name.  A Japanese friend once had a dog named John, for example.  I never asked her why she it, but I'd bet she liked an actor or singer by that name.  The most famous Japanese cat with a western name is probably Michael of 'What's Michael?' fame. The manga was such a hit that it spawned a long running animated TV series in the 80's. 

Japanese people sometimes choose the names of Japanese celebrities for their pets as well.  So if there's a Japanese actor or musician you like, you might consider using a version of their name.  Ichiro isn't likely to be offended if you're a baseball fan and name your cat after him!

Speaking of stars, Leo the Lion isn't just a constellation, he's also one one reason why there are so many cats in Japan with the name, pronounced 'Lay-Oh.'

In similar fashion, the Japanese word for tiger, Tora, works quite well as a name because it's short and it's no stretch to imagine most cats as mini tigers, especially if they have stripes. Most cat names in Japan seem to be two syllables, with some three-syllable monikers in the mix.  Keeping it short and sweet is a good angle to approach things from, it seems.

Japanese Cat Names from Flowers and Plants

Flowers and plants are another source of inspiration. Japanese girls are often named after flowers and cats are, too. The Japanese word for flower is hana, and Hana is a very popular name for female cats. 

You might well already know some Japanese plant names like Sakura(cherry) and Ume(plum).  Momo(peach) and Sakura are also among the most popular female cat names in Japan.  But don't stop there-other flowers such as Kiku(chrysanthemum) are also prime candidates! Mums have a rich, regal history in Japan and are associated with the Imperial family.

I thought up some names of fruits in Japanese and ran them by some Japanese friends, wondering if they would work as cat names. These are the ones that passed muster as cute, easy to say possibilities for female cats-Ichigo(strawberry), Suika(watermelon), Anzu(apricot), and Mikan(mandarin orange.) 

Think of various aspects of these names and others. If for example, you got your cat in summer or she was born then or just strikes you as having a summery personality, referring to her as the Japanese word for watermelon might hit just the right note.

Another fruit name that got the thumb's up from Japanese friends was Ringo(apple), but I nixed it because though it's indeed catchy, you might be mistaken for a die-hard Beatles fan with that one, and could soon get fed up with explaining the real meaning behind the choice!

Use Your Cat's Appearance as Inspiration

Another fertile filed to plow when it comes to names is your cat's coloring.  In Japan, the words for black(kuro) and white(shiro) are both standard choices for cats and dogs of both sexes.

If you happen to have a calico cat, you might consider the name Mi-ke. I added the hyphen to try and differentiate it from the common western name Mike, as it's pronounced Mee-kay.  It literally means 'three-hair' and refers to the three colors of fur that calicoes sport. Japanese calicoes are usually predominantly white along with two other colors, and are a very popular breed in Japan and abroad. Many Japanese cat owners in fact name their calico Mi-ke, just as countless western dog lovers over the decades have named their pooches Spot.

Is your cat small?  Then maybe something like 'Mame(pronounced (Mah-may) would be just right.  Mame means bean in Japanese, and has a cute, diminutive sound to it.  You might know this word already, as it's part of the word for soy beans, edamame(literally, branch bean). In a similar way, the name Mikan mentioned above has an endearing connotation, as it brings to mind something small and round.

Speaking of beans, the most popular female cat name in Japan taken from something edible might be 'Azuki.'  Azuki is a type of bean that's often used in Japanese cuisine, especially in making traditional sweets.  The notion of eating beans in sweets seems odd to many westerners, but take my word for it, bean based sweets are delicious and you shouldn't come to Japan without trying some!  

So naming your female cat Azuki, pronounced 'Ah-zu-key, would be a great choice if you're looking for a name that is 'authentic' in the sense that Japanese cat owners favor it.  And as with Mame, being a type of bean it carries with it the same cute, petite connotation. Since azuki beans are reddish brown, this name would work especially well if your cat has similar coloring. Do a net search for 'azuki' and you'll find photos of this culinary staple.

Traditional Seafood and Sweet Names Add a Wealth of Possibilities

All this talk about food is getting me hungry, so let's brainstorm with some words from Japanese cuisine that might strike your fancy.

Wasabi anyone?  How about Matcha(green tea)? Or Toro(fatty tuna, a delicacy)?  Then there's Wakame(a variety of seaweed), Ikura(salmon eggs), Saba(mackerel), Awabi(abalone), and the list goes on. In a similar way, many Japanese dog and cat owners choose names like 'Latte' and Mocha' these days. I think that names taken from seafood cuisine can be especially good fits with cat names, since they seem to enjoy such delicacies at least as much as we do!

I have a sweet tooth, so I'm partial to Mochi(pounded rice cake) sweets of all kinds. I also have a weakness for Dango(usually 3-4 small balls of mochi pounded rice on a stick).  We could go on and on brainstorming with foods, and I encourage you to have some fun with this. But with foods and with this process in general, take care not to get too esoteric, because you might well come to regret choosing a name that only you and a friend or two can remember and understand.

Japanese culture is finely tuned to the seasons and the natural world, and the cuisine reflects that.  You'll see ample evidence of this focus on nature in names like Sora, the word for sky. It's a staple on recent ranking lists for popular Japanese cat names and can be used for both males and females.  Note that the 'r' in sora is pronounced a bit differently than in English.

Famous Japanese Cats

I've already mentioned a famous cat, Michael, though he only exists in the world of comics and animation.  Ask about the most famous Japanese cat who's ever lived, and the name Tama is bound to come up. Perhaps because she gained fame so recently. In any case, she was certainly a phenomenon!  

Tama was a female calico who died in 2015 after going viral as the station master at Kishi Station in western Japan.  She gained an international following and was responsible for a huge surge in tourism to the area.  The name Tama is a cat name with a long history in Japan, much as the name Socks is thought of as a traditional cat name in some English speaking countries.  As a name it doesn't carry any special meaning, its popularity is mainly due to the way it sounds-short, easy to say and somehow endearing.

Sometimes a good name can boil down simply that.  And having such a common name certainly never held Tama back!  If anything, it made her even more memorable.  Of course the little station master's cap she wore at a jaunty angle also made her hard to forget!

If you happen to be a fan of the perennially popular manga Sazae-san about a family and their foibles that was first published in the 40's, you'll also know that the family's male cat was called Tama.  

And Tama was also the name chosen by the company that produces a series of cat themed furoshiki Japanese fabric cloths that I feature in my shop, as well.  This particular Tama is quite active with an eye for scenic spots, including the charming traditional buildings accented by cherry blossoms in full bloom on the furoshiki cloth below:

Other Key Cultural Notes

Now let's move to some general points about Japanese cat names.  First, intonation for names is basically flat. So all syllables get similar stress. It's common for native English speakers to pronounce the names of Japanese people as well as pets as they would in English, which often results in unnatural pronunciation. This often happens with three syllable words, as the middle syllable often gets stressed when it shouldn't get such special attention.  I have a Japanese friend named Yumiko who lives in the states, for example, who is often called 'Yu-MI-ko with the middle part stressed.  Similarly, Yukiko is known as 'Yu-KI-ko.'  

This tendency doesn't manifest much in two syllable words, and since most common pet names are short, like Tama, they end up being pronounced pretty much as they should be, with equal stress given to both syllables. But others, like Azuki that we looked at above, can become 'Ah-ZU-ki' if you're not aware of this aspect of Japanese language.

Then there's the custom of adding suffixes to names.  This is a key point to keep in mind, as it might steer you toward choosing one cat name over another, depending on how the name sounds in this form.

If you're an anime or manga fan, you're probably already well aware of the propensity to add 'chan' and 'kun' to the end of names.  Kun is basically used for boys and men, and like chan, conveys a familiarity and warmth.  Chan can be used for young boys as well as for girls and women. Adults can use these honorific suffixes with friends to show affection, though it's rude to use these suffixes to address a superior.  The first three letters of 'chan' are pronounced as in the name of the Cuban dance known as the Cha-Cha.

When we consider pet names, chan is the one to focus on, because it covers both sexes when it comes to animals.  And since pets are more often than not seen as cute and endearing, it's very natural to add chan to the end of their names. So, Sora becomes Sora-chan.  Tama is Tama-chan.  Presto! What was a cute name to start with gets even more so. 

Some names lend themselves better to the 'chan' treatment, in terms of how easily it all rolls off your tongue. Take for instance the sweets mochi and dango I mentioned above as possibilities.  'Mochi-chan'  is a bit harder to say than 'dango-chan' so based strictly on that, the latter would win out.

One thing to keep in mind with this-chan is usually something you use to refer to someone else's child or pet, not your own.  It's not rude or inappropriate to use it for your own pet, but it's most often a way for others to express a sense of affection and closeness for someone outside their own immediate family. So if you choose a Japanese name for your cat, informing those around you of this 'chan' add-on will pay dividends!

Finally, I'd like to make a list of all the names we've covered here, includes my brainstorms and some cat names that are among the most popular in Japan. When there's a meaning, I'll include that, and I'll also add the name as it's written in the katakana alphabet.  Often there is a kanji character for a name, but even then, the katakana is preferred when its used as a pet's name.  I've included the kanji characters mainly to illustrate just how simple the katakana is by comparison!

So if you have an interest in what a name looks like when written, don't make it unnecessarily hard by considering kanji characters.  Katakana characters are not only simple in their minimal number of angular strokes, but they're also preferred according to convention in this context. Knowing a bit more about Japanese cat names, including not only their meanings but how they're used can be a great way to delve more deeply into the culture in general.  If you have any questions related to this topic, please leave a comment!

Name	Katakana/Kanji	sex		meaning/reference
Ichiro	イチロー	M		Baseball player
Tora	トラ 　        虎	M/F		tiger
Hana	ハナ　         花	F		flower
Sakura	サクラ　     桜	F		cherry, cherry blossom
Ume	ウメ　         梅	F		plum, plum blossom
Momo	モモ　　　  桃	F		peach, peach blossom
Ichigo	イチゴ　      苺	F		strawberry
Suika	スイカ　    西瓜	F		watermelon
Anzu	アンズ	F		apricot
Mikan	ミカン	F		mandarin orange
Kuro	クロ　        黒	M/F		black
Shiro	シロ　        白	M/F		white
Mi-ke	ミケ　       三毛	M/F		calico
Mame	マメ　       豆	M/F		bean
Wasabi	ワサビ	M/F		Japanese horseradish
Matcha	マッチャ　抹茶	M/F		Japanese green tea
Toro	トロ	M/F		high grade cut of tuna
Ikura	イクラ	M/F		salmon eggs
Saba	サバ　　     鯖	M/F		mackerel
Wakame	ワカメ　   若布	M/F		seaweed
Awabi	アワビ	M/F		abalone
Mochi	モチ　         餅	M/F		pounded rice cakes
Dango	ダンゴ　   団子	M/F		skewered pounded rice cakes
Sora	ソラ　        空	M/F		sky
Tama	タマ	M/F		------
Kiku	キク　        菊	F		chrysanthemum

source http://kyotocollection.com/blog/japanese-cat-names/

Cat Fabric with a Japanese Flair

Japan is crazy about its cats, so it will come as no surprise that cat fabric can be found is a wide array of cute designs.  There are cat cafes, various 'cat islands' with large numbers of 'neko' as they are known in Japanese. And one cat named Tama was even elevated to the position of station master at a Wakayama Prefecture train station, where she attracted thousands of fans and lots of merchandise sales.  

Tama is also the name of the cat featured on a series of twelve furoshiki I offer in my store. But this is just coincidence, as Tama is among the most popular and well known names for cats in Japan.  Tama also happens to mean 'ball' in Japanese, but the name doesn't carry that meaning-it's simply made up of sounds that are pleasing to the ear and have come to have an endearing ring to them.

The cotton fabric pictured below is from the Tama the cat furoshiki series and is one of my favorites because it includes various aspects of the culture that I know well from many winter days spent indoors in old, drafty houses without central heating. 

Tama is a native breed called a Japanese Bobtail.  They come in various colors, but the calico(mi-ke) variety is the most well known abroad and also has wide popularity in Japan.  As such, it's a good bet that if you see cat fabric that comes from Japan, it could well feature this beloved breed. Though Tama is snoozing in this scene, as Japanese Bobtails are naturally active and playful, she can be seen out and about among some vivid seasonal scenery in the other designs I have.

Those 'kotatsu' low tables with heating elements and blankets to retain the heat below are indeed magnets for not only cats but also their owners!  And the 'mikan' mandarin oranges in the bowl are also fixtures of the season.  It's a good thing they're so easy to peel, because a little time spent with your legs under a table like this will make anything that takes more than a modicum of effort seem like its just not worth the bother!

Depictions of cats in Japanese art have a long history, including the work of noted masters of 'Ukiyo-e' woodblock prints.  Paramount among them is Utagawa Kuniyoshi, who created numerous works featuring cats in the 19th century.  His inspiration was never far away-it's said that his studio was full of his feline muses!

Recently, in recognition of this, a Japanese furoshiki maker has produced cat fabric that is sure to please cat lovers in and outside of Japan. It incorporates a multitude of cats in fanciful poses taken from his works.  Have a look blow and you'll be hard pressed not to get a sense of just how devoted he was to his models!

Whether you find it as furoshiki squares as above or as yardage or in another form, cat fabric from Japan has a spirit and a flair all its own. Look carefully and you'll see that like Japanese textiles in general, many interesting aspects of this fascinating culture are also illuminated, and the longer you look, the more you'll find to enjoy!

source http://kyotocollection.com/blog/cat-fabric-with-a-japanese-flair/

Black Crested Formal Kimono Dyeing in Nagoya

Before I read an English version in the Japan Times this week of an article that originally ran in the Chunichi Shinbun newspaper, I had admittedly begun to take black crested formal kimono for granted.  As elegant as they are, I've seen hundreds of used kimono like this at Kyoto's famed monthly markets at Toji Temple and Kitano Tenmanghu Shrine.

I've bought many of them over the years for resale, and the prices are always very reasonable because when Japanese people do buy vintage kimono for wear or projects these days, this type is of relatively limited use. As formal kimono they include family crests, and it's always interesting to look at a crest to see if it's an often seen one or not.  There are hundreds of crests, with many that look quite similar with small variations.  Some crests are more common in certain parts of Japan, so there is a geographical component to them as well.  

Other than the crests, well, black is elegant, but black's black, or so I've always thought. That's what was so enlightening about the story about a Nagoya dye company and the two brothers who are striving to adapt to a changing marketplace.  It turns out that traditionally made black crested kimono have an especially deep tone which includes just a bit of blue and red.

Living as I do in Nishijin, traditionally Kyoto's weaving center, I'll well acquainted with the challenges that traditional kimono and obi makers face, and I've seen numerous attempts at changing their product lines to combat sagging sales as fewer and fewer Japanese wear kimono.  I've even seen dog wear made of silk brocade of the type traditionally associated with fine obi.  

Nagoya's Nakamura brothers are betting that their dyeing and designing skills will make such new products such as t-shirts and stoles appealing to a new generation. Other companies, including at least one in Kyoto, specialize in dyeing their clients' old clothes black.  Which seems like another great way to put traditional skills to use, and also to give used clothing a new lease on life.

I didn't know that Nagoya has long been a center of kuro-montsuki black crested kimono dyeing. But thanks to this article, I looked and in no time ran across an informative English video about another Nagoya dyeing company! This one is run by the Takeda family.  Mr. Takeda is seen below dyeing various kimono, and the focus shifts to black dyeing and family crests just after the five-minute mark.  

source http://kyotocollection.com/blog/black-crested-formal-kimono-dyeing-in-nagoya/

Shinmei-ichi Festival: Home of the Largest Daruma Doll in Japan?

I've been writing a lot about daruma dolls this week and found a column from 2004 on the Japan Times website by Amy Chavez, who chronicled her quest to buy a daruma doll at the Shinmei-ichi Daruma Doll Festival in Mihara with her usual flair.

I hadn't heard of the festival before, and it sounds like a good excuse to get to know that beautiful area on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture better. As the festival has just come and gone for another year though, I'll have to wait a while before the chance comes around again!

I also learned that Shinmei is another name for the sun goddess Amaterasu, a major deity in the shinto faith.

If you happen to be in Japan some future February, it seems like a fun way to sample local cuisine as well as see lots of daruma dolls!  It's been held for over 400 years, so it seems safe to assume that it will continue to be a festive February option.  

Hundreds of street stalls offer a variety of temptations.  And then there are the daruma dolls. A huge daruma doll is on display and proudly bears the kanji characters 日本一(Nihon Ichi) to signify that it's the largest in Japan. Check the short video below to see what it you can expect if you go.  At 30 seconds into the clip you'll see a row of daruma dolls lined up for sale according to size and the camera pans from big to small. In case you're curious, here are the prices for the largest three:  15 was going for ¥20000($175USD), 14 for ¥15000($132USD) and 13 for ¥10000($89). I don't know if I'd be willing to part with mine after a year at those prices!

source http://kyotocollection.com/blog/shinmeiichi-festival-home-of-the-largest-daruma-doll-in-japan/

Yukidaruma

I've been writing about daruma dolls this week and as a student of the language, it brought to mind one of my favorite compound nouns in Japanese.  If you know the word for 'snow' in Japanese and pair it with 'daruma' you also now know how to say 'snowman'!  

Have you ever made a yukidaruma? Growing up in L.A. I didn't have the chance, and it only snows enough in Kyoto City these days to make it possible a few times every winter.  This winter we did it once, and the 'yuki' had mostly melted just a few hours later.  Neighbors in their 80's have told me stories over the years of snow falling more often and they have memories of significant accumulation. 

For better or worse, snow these days is a novelty and something to be savored, at least in the city proper.  It just doesn't seem to stick once it lands. 

That certainly makes winters more convenient, but I hope the trend doesn't continue-it would be a shame not to have the chance to hear the crunch of a couple centimeters of fresh snow underfoot while scanning the streets for the neighbors' kids' yukidaruma before they disappear.  Cherry blossoms are celebrated as a reminder of transience, but they seem to last an eternity compared with the yukidaruma in these parts!

It's always a good bet to use a literal translation from your mother tongue when you're trying to communicate in another language, and even if it's not exactly right, chances are you'll be able to express what you wanted to say.  Using that strategy with the word 'snowman' however would likely raise eyebrows and might even illicit an incredulous giggle.  In Japanese, knowing the word for man, 'otoko', might lead you to create the compound noun 'yukiotoko' for 'snowman.'  It's a good guess, but it actually refers to that elusive creature we call yeti or the abominable snowman!

The furoshiki above can be found in my store and features a yukidaruma on a snowy day and a cat curled up on a heated low table called a kotatsu.  There's a heating element underneath and the blanket keeps the warm air from escaping.  It's a lovely way to pass the time on a cold winter's day, but as you can see, it's all too easy to doze off! 

source http://kyotocollection.com/blog/yukidaruma/

The Making of a Daruma Doll

What is a daruma doll made out of?  Ask me and I'll say something about papier mache, which sounds so much better in its original French than the literal English translation of chewed paper! Beyond that I really had never seen anyone make one.  I was curious to know more about the process involved in making daruma, and I've also been wanting to get some Japanese language practice watching Japanese videos on youtube.

I came across a very well done short video produced by a Japanese company in Japanese. It's one of many interesting installments in a series they're chosen an English name for, 'The Making.'  The episodes are both entertaining and educational and show how various things are made. This episode features daruma dolls and is 14 minutes long.  It uses Japanese subtitles to illuminate the steps shown without any spoken words. The only audio is a pleasant soundtrack.  So it happens to be very accessible even if you speak no Japanese at all.  

The first 3 1/2 minutes of the video shows how to make a daruma doll by hand, and the video was shot at Shorinzan temple in Gunma Prefecture, also known as 'daruma-ji.' 

The temple was a natural location for this video because it's considered the birthplace of the Takasaki daruma doll. These are the most famed daruma dolls in Japan and the local city of Takasaki still is a major producer, accounting for about 80% of Japan's daruma dolls!

You'll notice that a key component of this handmade method is a daruma to use as a form on which to base the shape of the new doll.  So if you don't already have a daruma doll to use in this way, it's not practical for the beginner who wants to make their own daruma doll.  Still, it's quite interesting and shows quite clearly how daruma dolls have been made over the centuries, before more mechanized methods came into use.

at the 3 1/2 minute mark the focus shifts to more modern methods of mass production, and this takes up the bulk of the show.  Notice that the facial features are still painted by hand, even with the modern approach!  One of my favorites parts was watching the craftsman so deftly adding the characteristic facial hair to the dolls!

source http://kyotocollection.com/blog/the-making-of-a-daruma-doll/

Daruma Dolls: Kanji and Color Meanings

In sitting down to write about the rainbow of colors that daruma dolls come in these days, I'm reminded of a TED talk by the author Malcolm Gladwell called 'Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce' that related the story of a consultant, one of Mr. Gladwell's personal heroes, who has been hired by various companies over the years to identify consumer taste preferences. 

What was so interesting about the talk was the revelation that the genius of Howard Moskowitz is that he realized that the very notion of the perfect Pepsi or Prego sauce was was ill conceived.  Instead of searching for the holy grail in terms of taste profiles, companies came to see that there is no perfect Pepsi, but rather perfect Pepsi's. There's no one formula that will make the multitudes happy.  So why not offer a variety to serve various preferences and through that, increase market share?  Curious, I went to Prego's website and counted at least 40 kinds of pasta sauce!

Red Daruma Dolls

Red is traditionally the color most associated with these dolls, and I'd bet that it's still the most popular one for dolls sold in Japan.  Red is an auspicious color that some believe has the power to ward off evil spirits, disaster and illness.  The traditional red daruma is said to be modeled on Buddhist priest robes. Shinto too seems to venerate this color, as torii shrine gates through which parishioners pass are either red or vermilion.

Red is a celebratory color in Japan and carries with it numerous positive connotations. When people turn 60 in Japan, they celebrate their 'kanreki' by donning a jaunty red vest and cap to mark the occasion, which is seen as a sort of rebirth and return to the beginning of the life cycle. Red also has strong associations with victory, which is why political candidates choose red daruma when they’re running for office.

I'm partial to red daruma, so I bought the small one pictured below the other day when we went to a Kyoto temple known for daruma dolls that's called Daruma-dera. It has a hole drilled in the bottom with an 'omikuji' fortune paper inside, and it's sitting on my table watching me at this moment!

Red daruma invite good fortune in the most general sense, so if you like red and want to go the traditional route, it's always a good choice.  Mine has eyes that are already painted and a splash of festive hues in a floral pattern that gives it a cheery look.

Other Colors and Their Meanings

If you gravitate toward another color or have a specific goal in mind and want to put a finer point on things, there are daruma of various hues that will be happy to call your house their home. Sometimes they're sold in sets of five different colors, each with a specific power. Such sets are called goshiki daruma. The word goshiki literally means ‘five colors.'

Some colors and their qualities are:

Purple-health and longevity. Purple is a regal color that is associated with the imperial line, and it’s connected with such qualities as character and integrity.

Yellow-as with gold, there’s an expected association with financial good fortune as well as a more general connection to good fortune.

Gold-wealth and prosperity. The obvious choice of color when career advancement and economic gain are in sharp focus.

White-the color of choice for students studying for rigorous school entrance exams that are such a common and stressful rite of passage in Japan. More generally white is associated with goal attainment.

Black-success in business ventures. A good color for entrepreneurs.

Blue-success in school and the development of the intellect.

Silver-promotes self-awareness and self-development. Expectant mothers also sometimes choose silver because it’s said that it makes an easy delivery more likely.

Green-physical health. Also the development of talent and skill. This ties into the connection between the color green and plants budding, and calls to mind the English expression 'budding talent.' 

Orange-couples who want children choose this color and it also offers protection against disaster.

Peach-this is a color of love and attracts romance and passion.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, as I've seen mention of different shades of blue and green, etc.! The furoshiki wrapping cloth below is one that's available in my store and it features just a few of the colors that daruma dolls now sport.

Daruma Doll Kanji Meaning

The three daruma dolls depicted on the fabric above happen to not only have different colors, but also different kanji characters written on them. The red one has the most often seen character, pronounced 'fuku.'  This refers to good fortune in a general sense, which is why it's so common. The yellow daruma specifically attracts money, and so it includes the character for money, 'okane.' The purple doll has a character read as 'kotobuki' which is often used for weddings and other special occasions, as it carries the meaning of long life and longevity as well as congratulations. The two characters in the middle of the rising sun in back of the dolls are pronounced 'kai-un' which is another way to convey a message of good fortune.  These two characters in fact are also sometimes written on daruma dolls as well.

What color is your daruma doll?

source http://kyotocollection.com/blog/daruma-dolls-kanji-and-color-meanings-/