Hey there,
Your question states: To the Mexican tourist, the silver cup he held in his hands was simply a drinking vessel. But the Japanese tour guide explained that a bride and groom would drink sake from this cup as symbol of purification. This information helped the tourist to understand the ____ of the cup. Me personally, I think that the answer would make more sense if it would be the "history". I feel like by the man hearing the Japanese tour guide by explaining that a bride and groom would drink sake from his cup . . .. and so on, I think that the man would not really understand the "cultural context, but more of the "history" of the cup.
Hope this helps and makes sense to you!
~Jurgen
