The Jonome “snake eye” rings at the bottom of a sake tasting cup
Janome is the blue ringed design seen at the bottom professional sake tasting cups. It literally means snake eye, but is more what we would call a bulls eye. The purpose of these contrasting rings was originally to help assess the clarity of the sake by looking as the crisp border between the blue and white areas. The pure white part of the cup also allows you to check the overall color tint of the sake. This design became a hallmark of the sake industry in general. I even adopted a version of this design for the Urban Sake logo. One other reason this cup endures is that it is the official tasting cup used in many high profile japanese sake tasting competitions.
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