narai

narai

Client: Kiraku, Inc.
Art Direction/Design: Eko Hayashi
Direction: Kou Sundberg, Takatoshi Yamano(Kiraku, Inc. )
Country: Japan

Design concept

Suginomori Brewery, founded in 1793 in Narai-juku, an inn town in Nagano Prefecture, was revitalized as "suginomori brewery" after 10 years of break. She designed the packaging for its new sake brand "narai". The bottle design was designed to express the regional characteristics of the brewery's mountainous location and the company name "Suginomori," with graphics printed in black ink on a black bottle to express a Japanese aesthetic and stoic worldview that is not overly assertive. The exterior packaging uses the "Sugi no Mori" design, which was used in the past, to express the inheritance of the sake brewery's history of over 200 years, and uses environmentally friendly, recyclable cardboard as the material. The packaging was uniquely designed so that it could be shipped overseas without excessive packaging.

Product Concept

The brand name "narai" expresses the company's desire to use sake as an opportunity for people around the world to learn about and visit the Narai region. The brand is characterized by the fact that the entire sake brewing process is made by only one touji, a master brewer. The sake is made with locally produced rice from Azumino, Nagano Prefecture, and water from natural mountain water that has supported the lives of the local residents. The brewery is located at the highest elevation in Japan (940 meters) and is led by the brewer, a returnee with mixed roots, a Swedish-American father and Japanese mother, a young touji in his 30s, and an experienced man, who continues to challenge the norm on a daily basis.