Into a peaceful world, a shadow quietly slips.

The Edo Kiriko sake cup “Villain” by Ohba Glass was created from this slightly unsettling image.

Traditional Edo Kiriko often draws on auspicious patterns, flowers and motifs from nature.

Villain takes a different direction, expressing ideas of darkness, temptation and corruption.

Its beauty as a drinking vessel is only part of the work. Built into the design is a question for the person who uses it.

“Will You Be Consumed by the Darkness, or Drink It Away?”

Ohba Glass describes the idea behind Villain in these terms:

“Darkness quietly creeps into an age of peace.

Will you drink away the world it has corrupted and restore peace?

Or will you, too, become consumed by it?

The choice is yours.”

The act of filling the vessel, drinking from it and eventually emptying it becomes part of the story.

The name “Villain” is not simply a decorative title. It expresses the concept at the heart of the piece itself.

Layers of Kin-aka Red and Black Glass

Villain is distinctive not only for its cutting, but also for the glass itself.

The material is built in layers: a clear glass base covered with kin-aka red and black glass.

Black lies at the surface.

Beneath it, kin-aka red.

And with a deeper cut, the clear glass underneath is revealed.

The depth of each cut determines which layer appears, allowing several colours to emerge from a single vessel.

In Edo Kiriko, the visual effect is shaped not only by what is cut, but also by how deeply the glass is cut.

Villain makes especially expressive use of that relationship.

Sharp Cuts Breaking into Order

The upper part of the cup is filled with intricate geometric patterns.

Repeated with precision, these fine cuts catch the light and create countless small reflections.

From below, however, large and sharply defined clear cuts rise into that orderly surface.

Fine pattern and bold interruption.

Order and tension coexist within the same composition.

Once you know the idea behind the work — that darkness quietly enters a peaceful world — these dramatic cuts begin to feel like more than decoration.

Not Simply to Observe, but to Use

Villain is not designed only to be admired.

It is a choko, a small vessel made to be filled with sake, held in the hand and used.

Once sake is poured, its colour appears through the clear cuts and interacts with the black and kin-aka layers of the glass.

As the sake is gradually consumed, the appearance of the vessel changes.

And finally, only the empty cup remains.

Did you drink away the darkness?
Or did the darkness consume you?

That question is part of what makes Villain unusual: a provocative concept translated into an object meant for everyday use.

A Story Cut into Edo Kiriko

Intricate patterns.

Layers of kin-aka red and black.

Bold surfaces cut back to clear glass.

Villain offers all the technical pleasure expected of Edo Kiriko.

But there is more to see.

Why these colours?
Why these cuts?
Why the name “Villain”?

Knowing the idea behind the work changes the way the vessel appears.

It is a glass made for enjoying sake, yet it leaves the person holding it with something to consider.

That is the character of Ohba Glass’s Villain.

Ohba Glass Edo Kiriko Sake Cup “Villain”

Tokyo, Japan | Edo Kiriko | Sake Cup | Crystal Glass

Villain by Ohba Glass is an Edo Kiriko sake cup created around the theme of darkness, using layered clear, kin-aka red and black glass to reveal different colours through the depth of its cuts.

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