Perfect for iced tea, chilled noodles, or however else you want to cool yourself off.
In Japan, meals are a seasonal affair, with certain ingredients and recipes strongly tied to a specific time of year. Serious foodies will even use different tableware to reflect the different seasons, and in summer glass dishes, bowls, and cups help impart a cool, refreshing atmosphere.
Of course, why settle for just cool when your tableware can be both cool and cute?
Studio Ghibli specialty store Donguri Kyowakoku has just released a new line of glass cups and plates for fans of My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyo. There’s a total of six items in the lineup split across two motifs.
The first recreates the scene in My Neighbor Totoro when the mid and small-size Totoros are spotted by Mei in the garden and the energetic little tyke gives chase. That’s why both of these forest spirits are looking back over their shoulders, and an especially cool aspect to the transparent material is that if you look at the small Totoro through both sides at once, it looks like it’s hiding behind the bushes.
In addition to the drinking glass, there are both small and large glass bowls, which measure roughly 13.5 and 18 centimeters (5.3 and 7.1 inches) across, respectively.
Though the promotional photos show the bowls being used for somen, a chilled Japanese noodle dish popular in the summer months, you could just as easily, and appropriately, use them for frozen desserts like shaved ice or ice cream…or even a salads if you need to balance out your sweet-tooth indulgences with some veggies.
Joining the Totoros in this Ghibli glass collection is Ponyo, who provides a double-dose of cooling aesthetics by being depicted swimming in the sea with her marine friends.
The drinking glasses are priced at 2,420 yen (US$17.50) each, the small bowls at 2,750, and the large bowls at 3,300 yen (and note that they’re not microwave safe). The whole lineup is available for purchase here through the Donguri Kyowakoku online shop.
Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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