Eliza is my dear friend Sachiko’s family cat in Japan. If you know Sachiko, you know Eliza. Sachiko always talked about Eliza. She told me one day that her grandmother has a Ume plum tree in her backyard that blooms every year around the time of Risshun（the first day of spring in the twenty-four seasonal divisions. In the old days, the Japanese new year started on Risshun). Her grandmother used to make plum wine from the ume fruits.

 

One time I saw Sachiko's sister Yoko giving Eliza a bed shaped like a strawberry, and I wanted to add a strawberry item somewhere because I felt so much love between them.

 

There is a sense of change in the air outside, and plum flowers are a sure sign. The view of Plum blossom trees and Eliza in their garden. It might seem like repetition but it is a miraculous moment. Around the time of plum blossoms and through Sakura cherry blossoms, I always think of Eliza, and I think of Sachi.