Spring is almost upon us here in Tokyo so I thought that it was time to move on from winter and embrace spring. To reflect this I have designed a new grande cup liner for my custom coffee tumbler to add a bit more of a spring feel. I have also designed a tall size version for those with tall size cups. Although I am not super fond of pink it really did work best as the background for the most popular spring flower here: 桜 (Japanese cherry). To tell the truth, I think we have more cherry blossoms in my hometown in Canada than one would typically see in Tokyo, but people in Japan tend to associate cherry blossoms with being a very Japanese thing and the strongest association with the coming of spring. As they tend to bloom here for not much more than a week in each area it can be a bit of a briefly dramatic spectacle. It is a nice time to go to Shinjuku Gyouen (新宿御苑) on a weekday and have a picnic, shoot some photos and relax. Go to a local park on the weekend and you will be lucky if you can sit down never mind picnic.
I think that by the time cherry blossoms have come and gone I will be happy to do another cup design that is not quite so pink 😉
Update: By printing it on 和紙 (Japanese traditional paper) that is slightly off-white I have managed to make it look a bit more classic and a lot less pink!
I’m not a big fan of the colour pink either, but it is pretty classic for cherry blossoms!
I was in Victoria last weekend and all the trees are starting to bud. It is the most beautiful time of year there. I especially love when all the petals are swirled away in a strong wind, that’s a Victorian snow storm 🙂
Luckily I had some off-white traditional Japanese style paper to print on so it came out less pink that it might have and looks a lot more subtle (as I had originally intended when I started designing it).
I do miss the blossom blizzards that happen in the spring in Victoria. It is much better than the snow that most of Canada still has that early in the year!