June is the traditional start of the Japanese rainy season and you can be golden for showers with this solid gold mug that is so appropriate for getting through this Great Recession.

Worth $50,000, the item has been introduced as part of gold manufacturer Ginza Tanaka’s latest collection.

The firm has created the Summer Cool range with items that are believed to relieve the heat during the summer months and the mug features 850g of gold.

Aya Yanagi, a member of the Ginza Tanaka staff, said of the product: “It’s, of course, tasty drinking beer from a normal glass, but it was a new experience to drink from a golden mug.”

Other items available in the collection include gold wine glasses, which can be bought for $30 per gram.

Next week, Japan will begin hosting an exhibition – entitled Egypt’s Sunken Treasures – that includes a number of gold artefacts.

It is arriving in the country to mark the 150th anniversary of the opening of Yokohama Port and will run until September 23rd.