The madder color is a dull yellowish red color similar to the madder root dye, and is one of the oldest dyes in the world along with the madder dye.

Akane is a plant that was originally named for its red roots, and is dyed using a red pigment called alizarin contained in the roots.

Akane has a long history, and there is a description in "Gishi Wajinden" that ``Himiko of Yamatai Province was sent madder silk from the emperor of Wei''.

The color dyed with oriental madder was brought to Japan, but the madder native to Japan is especially called Japanese madder.

The color dyed with Japanese madder is characterized by a yellowish tinge compared to foreign madder.

Since madder color requires a lot of man-hours to dye, during the Edo period, imitation madder (suou) was used instead.

Akane is called Madder in English.