Miniature Japan Rhine (Nihon Rain) Souvenir Cup and Saucer with Gold Handle

A tiny porcelain cup and saucer that sits easily in the palm of a hand. The cup has a gilded rim and an ornate gold handle, and it's hand-painted with a little scene of a river bridge and greenery against a blue sky. The matching saucer shows a wooded cliff rising from blue water, topped by a castle, with distant mountains and the words 日本ライン ("Nihon Rain", the Japan Rhine). The castle is most likely Inuyama Castle. It's a sweet piece for a curio cabinet, a dollhouse or a shelf of travel souvenirs, and it's in good condition with bright gilding.

The "Japan Rhine" is the gorge of the Kiso River between Minokamo in Gifu and Inuyama in Aichi. The geographer Shiga Shigetaka gave it the name in 1913, when he said the view of the river beneath Inuyama Castle on its cliff looked just like Germany's Rhine. Inuyama Castle, built in 1537, has one of the oldest surviving castle keeps in Japan. It is one of only 12 original castles left and a designated National Treasure.