Why in Japan instead of a green traffic light it is blue

(ORDO NEWS) — If you have been to Japan or watched films that were filmed in this country, then you probably paid attention to unusual traffic lights. They use blue instead of green. Why is that?

Initially, the Japanese language did not have a separate word for green at all. There was only the word aoi (青い), which was used to characterize cool undertones. For example, blue, blue, emerald and other similar colors and shades. That is, both blue and green were previously described by the Japanese in one word.

A little later, the inhabitants of Japan had a word denoting exactly the color green. This is midori (緑). However, until now, people continue to call blue and green colors the same – aoi.

The very first traffic lights in Japan appeared in the 30s of the XX century. They were the most common, that is, they had red, yellow and green colors.

Despite this, the Japanese continued to call green aoi rather than midori. As a result, in 1973 the government of the country decided to create traffic lights with a blue signal instead of green. As a result, it turned out to be easier not to retrain people, but to install special traffic lights throughout the country.

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