In intercultural communication, linguistic competence must be accompanied by an understanding of the associations that the speakers share. For communicating in a foreign language, the most important kind of association is indicative association, which is related to the literature, customs, and history of a people. When Japanese people communicate with Americans in English, this kind of association often causes problems, and those related to color are a large, important group that Japanese people must understand in order to communicate successfully with Americans. Americans seem to have a greater awareness of color than do Japanese people, with more terms for colors and shades and more color associations. Americans and Japanese do not necessarily use the same color terms for the same objects. They share some color associations, but many are different, and Japanese people are often not familiar with color connotations in American culture and daily life, such as the association of blue with depression, obscenity, nobility, loyalty, strictness, and lack of oxygen. Since the use of color terminology is frequently based on cultural convention rather than descriptions of reality, Japanese who communicate with Americans need to learn the patterns and significance of color expressions in American culture. (MSE)