Translation guide
Describes a complete absence of light; extremely dark. In Japanese, this is expressed with specific color terms, onomatopoeia, or descriptive phrases.
The most common way to say a place is pitch black, emphasizing total darkness.
The standard, everyday word for pitch black. Used for rooms, night, or any dark space.
部屋の中は真っ暗だった。
The room was pitch black.
停電で街が真っ暗になった。
The town went pitch black due to the power outage.
Emphasizes total darkness, often with a nuance of being engulfed in darkness. Slightly more emphatic than 真っ暗.
洞窟の中は真っ暗闇で何も見えなかった。
Inside the cave it was pitch black and I couldn't see anything.
Means 'darkness' and can be used in contexts like 'pitch black' when combined with other words, but alone it simply means darkness.
暗闇に包まれた。
It was enveloped in pitch blackness.
When referring to the color itself, like paint, hair, or objects that are intensely black.
Means 'jet black' or 'pitch black' for colors. Used for objects, hair, or anything that is completely black.
彼の髪は真っ黒だ。
His hair is pitch black.
真っ黒な雲が空を覆った。
Pitch black clouds covered the sky.
Literary or formal term for 'jet black' or 'pitch black', often used in writing or poetic descriptions.
When something is blackened, charred, or covered in soot.
To become pitch black, often from dirt, smoke, or burning.
鍋の底が真っ黒になった。
The bottom of the pot turned pitch black.
真っ暗 (makkura) is for darkness (absence of light), while 真っ黒 (makkuro) is for the color black. Use 真っ暗 for a dark room, and 真っ黒 for black hair or a blackened object.
漆黒の闇が広がっていた。
Pitch black darkness spread out.