Roses

2023/12/22

Kazuyoshi Yanagisawa

President, Chocography Co., Ltd. / 1970 Economics

In 1989, we opened the chocolate specialty shop "Message de Rose" in Daikanyama.

The brand concept and inspiration come from the three major gifts in Europe: wine, bouquets of roses, and chocolate. I believed that even if stylized, the delicate beauty of a rose could be expressed through chocolate, and we achieved this using our manufacturing techniques. Since Message de Rose means "The Message of the Rose," we specialized entirely in chocolate gifts with a rose motif.

We decided to use only raw materials from Weiss. Their manufacturing process follows traditional handmade methods, and with low production volumes, the materials are highly rare, offering wonderful aroma and a smooth melt-in-the-mouth quality.

It took five years and dozens of prototypes to arrive at the current rose shape. It was difficult to make it look like a delicate and beautiful rose, but we succeeded by setting the number of petals to what it is today.

I hope you will enjoy our pride and joy, a product that blooms just like real petals.

Kana Todo

Preserved Flower Designer / 1994 Environmental Information

During my high school years studying abroad in the United States, I was struck by the culture where men routinely give flowers to women as an expression of affection. I entered my current profession with the desire to establish this custom in Japan as well.

Preserved flowers are fresh flowers that have undergone preservation processing, allowing them to stay vibrant for a long time without water. Because they are easy to handle, they are popular among men and in offices, and the rose is the most popular of all.

Did you know that roses have meanings not only in their color but also in their number? For example, the "Dozen Roses." It is said that giving a dozen roses to a lover will bring happiness. This is said to originate from a romantic medieval European custom where a man would pick 12 wild roses to make a bouquet and hand it to a woman to propose. There are various other floral meanings, such as one rose for "love at first sight" and 15 roses for "I'm sorry," which makes you want to give them to someone.

Why not entrust the feelings you are too shy to put into words to a rose and give them to someone special?

https://kanatodo.com//

Masahito Kitano

President, Aoyama Hanamo Honten Co., Ltd. / 2006 Economics

Since our founding in 1904, we have strived to handle the highest quality fresh flowers. Through the efforts of successive owners and employees, we have been a purveyor to the Imperial Household Agency since 1959, and we work hard every day to live up to that name.

We are particularly particular about the quality of roses, which have always been popular. The conditions for high-quality roses recognized as top grade in the market naturally include flower size, symmetry, petal thickness, and good color, but also require thick, long, straight stems and fresh leaves. Only a handful of producers can stably ship roses that meet these conditions at a high level. Even for the same variety, the beauty and longevity vary greatly depending on the cultivation method, careful selection, and management during transport. While high-grade roses have higher wholesale prices, our company always specifically buys the highest-grade roses grown by master cultivators.

Purchased roses are quickly processed and placed in a refrigerator with daily water changes. Under the shop motto "Discard the flower, or discard your credibility," we sort them without missing any signs of deterioration and sell only fresh items that can be enjoyed for a long time.

Aoyama Hanamo | Flower Gift Online Shop, Omotesando Florist

Takahiro Nishio

Associate Professor, Faculty of Letters, Keio University

The poem by the great German literary figure Goethe, known for Schubert's song "Heidenröslein" (Wild Rose), is an unshakably popular work in the world of Lieder (with over 150 musical settings!). However, the content—where a "rough boy" who feels "joy" at a "young" and "beautiful" rose blooming in the wasteland plucks the rose while ignoring the flower's "screams" and "resistance"—does not quite match the pastoral tone of the song. Since roses have long been a metaphor for "female chastity," what is being hinted at through the figure of a human trampling nature is likely an explicit relationship between a man and a woman. The musical sensibility that cheerfully sings of the boy's selfish violence seems to be two sides of the same coin as the perspective of the boy (man) who innocently fulfills his own desires.

Speaking of "plucking a rose," there is another literary work from before Goethe that immediately comes to mind. It is the tragedy "Emilia Galotti," which Mori Ogai translated as "Ori-bara" (The Plucked Rose). This work also contains a famous passage comparing a woman to a rose, but the author Lessing did not forget to include a critique of the male-centric morality lurking within. Along with the song "Wild Rose," I hope you will take this opportunity to explore this other "Plucked Rose" as well.