A magical way to watch the flowers bloom while socially distancing yourself from others indoors.

One thing people in Japan look forward to every year as the cold weather lifts is the glorious blooming of the cherry blossoms.

As the sakura unfurl their petals at the start of the school year, the flowers act as a harbinger of brighter days and new beginnings. This year, however, things feel very different as the Prime Minister has asked everyone in Japan to curb their hanami cherry blossom viewing parties to help flatten the curve of the coronavirus outbreak.

While a lot of people are choosing to stay indoors, early spring is so strongly associated with hanami here that the desire to view sakura and unwind in the company of the blossoms remains strong.

There are ways to bring the blossoms into your home, though, and one of those ways is with this magical sake cup, which is currently blowing everyone’s minds on Twitter.

The clip shows the sake cup going from bare white when it’s empty…

▼ To a bright pink in the centre as the sake flows into it.

As the cup is filled, the sake tree bursts into full bloom, with gorgeous pink petals spread throughout its branches.

▼ If you can’t get out to see hanami like this, the sake cup is the next best thing.

With over 5 million views and over 435,000 likes, people are needing this sakura sake cup in their lives right now, and according to one Twitter user who saw it, there’s a similar-looking champagne glass version available too.

Sake sleuths tracked down the cup to Gifu-based Marumo Takagi, which stocks an enormous array of pottery, largely for use by hotels and restaurants, covering things like glasses, lacquerware, wood products, and ceramics.

▼ “For the feeling of hanami anytime anywhere”

The sake cup, which retails for 3,300 yen (US$31.05), is currently sold out but will be restocked shortly, due to the sudden demand for the product which came about thanks to the viral video.

With the somei yoshino sakura trees — the most popular and prevalent variety in Japan — expected to begin blooming in Tokyo around 19 March, now is the time to bring the hanami party indoors.

Related: Marumo Takagi
Source, featured image: Twitter/@shino_porno
Insert images: Twitter/@shino_porno, Pakutaso (1, 2)
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