The first object visitors to the Wellcome Collection’s forthcoming exhibit, The Coming of Age, will encounter is a pure silver sake cup. In 1963, Japan’s government began a tradition of issuing these honorary gifts, or sakazuki, to citizens who lived to see in the morning of their 100th birthday. A total of 153 people received one in the first year.
By 2009, such was the growing number of centenarians that a decision was taken to reduce its size in an attempt to curtail costs. It wasn’t enough. Since the mid-2010s, the tens of thousands of Japanese elders who arrive at the increasingly common milestone now have had to make do with a cheaper nickel-silver alloy version instead. Still, as exhibition curator Shamita Sharmacharja suggests, “it’s better than a letter from the king!”
