Etymology of 赤字/黒字


赤字 and 黒字 seem to correspond directly to the English expressions 'red ink' and
'black ink', meaning a (financial) deficit/loss and surplus, respectively. If
Wiktionary is to be trusted, Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean [use 赤字 in the
same way](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%B5%A4%E5%AD%97). Furthermore,
French has the expression _être dans le rouge_ ('to be in the red').

[Etymonline](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=red+ink) lists the
first recorded instance of 'red ink' in English as being from 1929, and
[語源由来辞典](http://gogen-allguide.com/a/akaji.html) asserts that 赤字 and 黒字 spread
in Japanese during the 大正時代 (1912-1926) to the start of 昭和時代 (1926-1989).

How did 赤字 and 黒字 come to be used in Japanese? Are the terms borrowed from a
European language (or vice versa), or did the practice of using red ink for
losses and black ink for profits arise independently?




Over the years, I've found Shogakukan's 国語大辞典【こくごだいじてん】 (KDJ) to be a good
resource for etymologies and term dating. Their entry [here at
Kotobank](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%B5%A4%E5%AD%97-186590#E7.B2.BE.E9.81.B8.E7.89.88.20.E6.97.A5.E6.9C.AC.E5.9B.BD.E8.AA.9E.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E5.85.B8)
lists a first citation in Japanese to 1929, roughly in line with the
appearance of the term _"in the red"_ in English, dated to 1926 [in this
Wiktionary entry](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/in_the_red).

The Japanese Wikipedia article on
[黒字【くろじ】と赤字【あかじ】](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BB%92%E5%AD%97%E3%81%A8%E8%B5%A4%E5%AD%97)
lists a slightly later appearance in 1931, close enough to the KDJ for rough
purposes. This article notes that the Japanese term may have arisen as follows
(my explanatory addition [in square brackets]):

>
> 日本語【にほんご】の「赤字【あかじ】」「黒字【くろじ】」は、この西洋【せいよう】式【しき】簿記【ぼき】に直接【ちょくせつ】由来【ゆらい】するか、あるいは上記【じょうき】の西洋語【せいようご】からの借用【しゃくよう】と見【み】られる。  
>  The Japanese terms "red figures" and "black figures" may be derived
> directly from this Western bookkeeping [writing income and gains in black,
> and expenditures and losses in red], or they may be borrowings from the
> aforementioned Western languages.




In bookkeeping, [losses were written in red](http://gogen-
allguide.com/a/akaji.html). [Gains were written in black](http://gogen-
allguide.com/ku/kuroji.html).

This starts from this.

