This is a set of 3 Japanese military sake cups, decorated each with a silver cherry blossom. The words on the back of the biggest cup are "Eastern District Commanding Officer General Nakamura Kotaro". This would be a set of cup gifted by general Nakamura to people, probably for some service performed. He became the commanding officer of the Eastern District on two occasions: from mid 1937-1938, but except for about one month he was still a lieutenant general (after he got promoted to general he was then sent to become the head of the Japanese army in Korea) during this time. He returned to the post of commanding officer of the Eastern District at the end of 1941 until his retirement in 1943. This set of cup is most likely from that period. The two smaller cups have no words. The Eastern District was a home command responsible for defense of the eastern part of Japan - including Tokyo. It was a very important post given the history of coups, even if not a lot of immediate action.

It's quite rare to have a named general officer on cups, especially for someone as high ranking as a general and coming in quite late in the early 40s. There's only been a total of 134 full generals in the IJA. Lacquer cups from the 1940s are also quite rare.

Condition: Excellent - very minor wear on the surface of the cups

Size: 3.5", 4.5", 5"