A plum blossom that signifies the coming of spring.
Plum blossoms stand for long life, beauty,
loyalty etc. in flower language,
and have been popular as auspicious flowers.
“UME ICHIRIN” is a silver sake cup designed
with such a plum motif.White plum blossoms,
dark red plum blossoms,
light red plum blossoms. If you look at the large and small,
colourful “UME ICHIRIN” side by side,
you are filled with the joyous feelings connected
to the arrival of spring. And the time when you
inadvertently utter your amazement,
is when you look inside the cup.
Seeming to fluffily rise from the bottom of the cup,
the plum flower shows its wondrous shape.
This is a phenomenon that occurs under
a certain radius of curvature,
though it feels like it holds some mysterious power.
The appearance of the plum is felt stronger when you pour sake,
and it seems like this mysterious power is
taken into the body when you drink the sake.
The soft and beautiful five plum petals
are hand crafted by skilled artisans
following this path for 50 years.
The dark red and light red plum on the inner side of
the cup are crafted by a traditional Takaoka Lacquer artisan.
The handicrafts of traditional craftsmen with high
expertise were joined together to create this masterpiece.