Japanese Kanji: Murasaki - purple T-Shirt

The color purple used to be very rarely seen because it was difficult and took time to make, for this reason it was very pricey because it needed to be extracted from shigusa (purple gromwell plant), which is very difficult to grow. It also required a lot of effort to dye using the color purple. Consequently for a long time in Japan, ordinary people were forbidden to wear purple clothes. During the Nara period, approx 1400 years ago, only high-level officials and the Imperial family could wear purple clothes. When Buddhism came to Japan, the monks who had a high-level of virtue were also allowed to wear purple. In Noh performances, purple and white are often used for the costumes of the emperor and Gods.