This week, Japan entered a new era. As the emperor abdicates and his son is enthroned on 1st May, we will say goodbye to ‘Heisei’ and begin ‘Reiwa’.

For the first time the era name chosen comes from a Japanese poem rather than from classical Chinese literature. The word ‘reiwa’ in the poem refers to gentle winds following a harsh winter, and the official English translation provided by the Japanese government is ‘beautiful harmony’.

With the announcement there was a flurry of creativity, with artists and craftspeople using their skills to make beautiful art inspired by the new era name. One of our favourite examples of this, is sweets artist Asami Kamioka’s gorgeously detailed iced cookies.

We’ve seen enough baking fails to know that getting shaped cookies to come out of the oven in the form you intended is incredibly difficult. But Asami’s cookies shaped like the kanji characters for Reiwa, look as though they were written by the hand of a skilled calligrapher.

The video she posted on Twitter shows the whole process of her icing, starting from the background colours to the minute detailing on every flower.

The bright colour combinations and pretty spring-like flowers come together in a design inspired by traditional Japanese patterns, the perfect way to ring in the new era on 1st May.

Asami Kamioka has an Instagram and Twitter full of her gorgeous creations, Studio Ghibli fans in particular need to check out her adorable Totoro cookies!