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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?
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etymology
Etymology of 赤字/黒字
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.
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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.
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