Cows are a recurring motif on milk cartons: "Kikuchan" decorates this limited-edition milk from the Nasu-kogen highlands in Tochigi Prefecture. (Photos by Louis Templado)
This retro-styled carton comes from Seibu Rakuno Nyugyo company in Saitama Prefecture.
A stylized depiction of a "toki" Japanese crested ibis graces cartons of milk from Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture, where the endangered birds are being bred.
A flavored yogurt drink from Aomori Prefecture, Japan's major apple-producing region
A sleepy-eyed cow emerges from a milk urn on these cartons of caffeine-free coffee milk.
Lemon- and strawberry-flavored milk from Tochigi Prefecture
The design for Appi Ranch yogurt drink from Iwate Prefecture is by Yusaku Kamekura, better known for his poster for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
What sort of packaging first greets your eyes in the morning? If your regimen includes cereal or coffee, then chances are it's a carton of milk. There's something reassuring about milk, but what if you'd like to wake up to innovative artwork?
If you live in the Kansai area, head over to the Osaka Merchandise Mart for Milk Tour Nippon 2011 on Feb. 10. A follow-up to the Tokyo version held on Jan. 26, the event represents 69 dairy firms from all over Japan, offering close to 350 varieties of milk, yogurt, cheese, milk jam and other things not entirely imaginable from an udder.
Among them was a recreation of a sandstone-like "so"--an indigenous Japanese cheese that was first written about in records from the ancient Asuka Period (592-710), a palmful of which requires 40 liters of milk to make.
The Japanese are not big drinkers of milk, consuming only 24.4 liters per person per year (compared to Sweden, where the figure is close to 150 liters), but it's not for want of attractive packaging. There's a certain "rural" sense, so to speak, to many of the products on show that's not exactly unintentional, nor modern either, by Tokyo standards.
Milk from Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, for example, comes in boxes bearing an image of a "toki" Japanese crested ibis (because the bird is raised there under protection). The design is stylized, yes, but looks as though it would fit easily on the constructivist breakfast table of Russian designer Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956).
Meanwhile from Tochigi Prefecture, a place that Tokyo people immediately associate with bumpkin tastes, comes lemon- and strawberry-flavored drinks in boxes right out of the 1950s.
Yet even at the Milk Tour are examples of Japan's best designers. For instance, the package design for a yogurt drink from the Appi-kogen highland in Iwate Prefecture is the work of none other than Yusaku Kamekura (1915-1997), better known for his iconic poster for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
The yogurt box design was a side job for the designer, who didn't want too many people knowing about it, says Noriyuki Matsukusa, an official of Iwate Hotel and Resort Co. that sells the yogurt drink.
"We may come from the countryside and lack sophisticated tastes," says Matsukusa, "but it still cheers us up when people get pleasure from the package."
Cows are a recurring motif on milk cartons: "Kikuchan" decorates this limited-edition milk from the Nasu-kogen highlands in Tochigi Prefecture. (Photos by Louis Templado)This retro-styled carton comes from Seibu Rakuno Nyugyo company in Saitama Prefecture.A stylized depiction of a "toki" Japanese crested ibis graces cartons of milk from Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture, where the endangered birds are being bred.A flavored yogurt drink from Aomori Prefecture, Japan's major apple-producing regionA sleepy-eyed cow emerges from a milk urn on these cartons of caffeine-free coffee milk.Lemon- and strawberry-flavored milk from Tochigi PrefectureThe design for Appi Ranch yogurt drink from Iwate Prefecture is by Yusaku Kamekura, better known for his poster for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201102070246.html
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