Located in Kitanomaru Park, a famous cherry blossom viewing spot in Kudanshita, central Tokyo, is the National Museum of Modern Art's Crafts Gallery. It seems appropriate that during the flowering seasons of ume (plum) and cherry the gallery should be hosting a show titled "Flower Design." The exhibition, which runs till April 11, displays more than 100 works with floral ornamentation, including examples of furniture, lacquerware, ceramics, kimono and accessories.

The cherry blossom, the most popular Japanese symbol of spring, is exquisitely represented in a set of lacquered bowls made by Gonroku Matsuda (1896-1986), designated a living national treasure in 1955. The delicate bowls are crimson red and inlaid with five-petal yakogai (mother-of-pearl) cherry flowers. "Yakogai" literally means "shell that shines in the night" and its iridescence perfectly captures the light pink of the cherry blossom.

Matsuda's craftsmanship is evident in the skillful bending of the delicate and brittle pearlized shell pieces to fit the curve of the bowl. Though known as an innovator, however, the artist was raised in Kanazawa, a city renowned for its traditional lacquerware.