Mermaids, whales, and rabbits are awaiting 2023.
Looking for some New Year decorations with some contemporary flair? Starbucks Reserve Roastery has renewed collaboration with Tokyo’s chila doll production company Shimada Kouen to release a set of lucky Japanese Gosho ningyo dolls. That is the new year, which happens to be the Rabbit’s Year.
Gosho ningyo are chubby porcelain dolls that have become part of Japanese court culture since at least 400 years ago. Today they are a valuable piece of Japan’s cultural heritage. This collaboration is part of the Japanese Jimoto + Project, wherein the company celebrates traditional Japanese arts and culture in a series of collaborations.
Twenty23s gosho ningyo collection includes eight different types of figures that will be very familiar with Starbucks fans. These first three items will be sold till January 31, 2023.
The first project is the mermaid priced at 8 500 yen (61 dollars) As you did it the “Scratch” logo, you got a tail-like kimono train. The tiny figure has a tonner dove as a symbol of peace.
The white whale (7.7 yen) is actually a real tribute to Starbucks’s name. The founders of Starbucks were inspired by Henry Melville’s Moby Dick, who says the name of the first men is Starbuck. These whales have gray and gold lines carefully painted to accent the whales different parts, and their green eyes match Starbucks green.
A third of the collection is used to the ocean theme, namely the Treasure ship (7.500 yen) or the takarabune in Japanese. In Japanese culture, takarabune should bring great fortune in the symbolic form of rice, but this treasure ship carries burlap bags of coffee beans and holds a mark of Japan’s coffee brand. The artism was conceived to create a ship full of coffee beans and dreams. The symbols to the ships, known as the batlion, devour bad dreams and other disasters that make for a great year.
The five items that are in the collection are sold only in limited quantities, so its first serve is always available. First up is the Gosho Ningyo With Tai (5,000 yen), a traditional gosho ningyo with red snapper, which symbolizes happiness and is a symbol of celebration. Even the blue waves painted on the dolls have no meaning and therefore represent the wish of everyone to live in peace and happiness.
This lucky cat doll is very popular in Japanese culture, that symbolizes business success and financial success.
If you want to buy a red snapper without paying a lot more, buy this small Gosho Ningyo with Tai doll for 4 500 yen. It’s a must-have if you want to symbolically achieve success and luck in 2023.
And finally the Year of Rabbit. This is the set of earthenware bells called “The Eto Dorei Set Usagi no Onegai”. When the black and white bunnies want to shave their little paws as they do a wish (onegai), holding a rope to allow purification, and ring a very peaceful sound when shaken. This set costs 7 000 yen.
Would you like tiny figurines? Grab one or two of these Hannari Usagi rabbits for half a dozen yen each. They come yellow, pink, white, blue and black, and they have little paws raised towards the moon. If you wish the full set, you should go to the Reserve Roastery on hops before you are done.
If you want to go and see one of these at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery, keep in mind you won’t be allowed to buy one of the items until December 31. Having this one before, the customer can buy a number of items within ten. Just make sure that you grab one before they’re sold out!
Source, images: PR Times.