The Japanese traditional custom of "Hanami" requires adherents to enjoy the beauty of flowers. From mid Jan to early May, the sakura cherry blossoms bloom all over Japan, . The practise of Hanami began around 700 AD and was originally limited to members of the Imperial Court. Hanami became popular with the samaurai class and, by the Edo period, with the common people, who used Sakura to divine the year's harvest and the rice-growing season.
To practise hanami, celebrants gather under the cherry blossoms to eat lunch and drink sake in a joyeous feast. Often, these parties go on late into the night. A joking Japanese proverb "dumplings over flowers" alludes to the true motivations of many of the hanami celebrants – to partake of the food and drink of the hanami party rather than view the flowers themselves.
But you don't need dumplings or sake to practise hanami (although they wouldn't go amiss) with this beautiful cherry blossom necklace. Each blossom is individually hand-sculpted in fine silver, and connected to each other from behind to create a seamless flow of petals.
The cherry blossoms graduate in size. The largest measures approximately one inch in diameter, and the daintiest is only half an inch. The necklace measures 17 inches (43.2) cm in length and closes with a delicate double-blommomed clasp.
***Winner of the Japan Association for Leisure & Culture Development Award for 2008***
For the North American Design Competition.
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