Silver Packaging Design · 2024
Tamausagi Bottled Japanese Tea
- A' Design Award 2024 Silver Winner in Packaging Design
- Awarded April 15, 2024
- CLIENT: Shunbin inc.
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 33,922
- Verification code 2E17E63474 · Verify this award
About Tamausagi Bottled Japanese Tea
Tamausagi is a bottled Japanese tea brewed with Uji Gyokuro, a tea made with the traditional Uji method of Kyoto. The bottle has a simple form inspired by wabi-sabi, the Japanese aesthetic of simplicity. The symbol is a rabbit that guided the guardian god of Uji. The bottle depicts a moonlit night with thin clouds, a reference to the Gyokuro method of shading tea leaves from the sun. Gold decoration with a rough texture and a subdued gleam is applied. The black bottle blocks light and protects the tea. A circular window in the box reveals the rabbit symbol.
Hisamichi Kasai's Tamausagi Bottled Japanese Tea represents a distinguished achievement in contemporary beverage packaging that thoughtfully bridges ancestral visual traditions with modern design sensibilities. The work engages with centuries-old East Asian iconographic conventions, particularly the beloved moon rabbit or jade rabbit motif that appears across scrolls, ceramics, textiles, and decorative arts as a symbol of the lunar body and its association with longevity, purity, and the preparation of the elixir of immortality. The designer demonstrates remarkable technical facility in the execution of the gold printed elements, which employ traditional pattern vocabularies including the seigaiha or blue ocean wave design repurposed here as auspicious cloud formations, suggesting the celestial realm where the rabbit traditionally resides. The compositional decision to render the rabbit in a curled, self-contained circular form creates visual poetry, as the creature's body mirrors the full moon with which it is mythologically associated, transforming product surface into narrative tableau. The chromatic relationship between warm gold and deep darkness evokes both the aesthetic principles of traditional lacquerware and the quiet drama of moonrise against night sky, establishing a thermal dialogue between the warmth of gold and the cool mystery of darkness. The bottle form itself participates in this refined visual language, its proportions suggesting traditional sake or soy sauce vessels while maintaining contemporary functionality. The placement of cloud motifs at varying scales across the bottle surface creates rhythmic visual interest while maintaining the hierarchical primacy of the rabbit figure. This packaging design invites consideration of how commercial objects can serve as vessels of cultural transmission, carrying forward aesthetic traditions and symbolic meanings while fulfilling practical requirements of beverage containment and market differentiation. The viewer might contemplate how this small object participates in ongoing conversations between heritage and innovation, and how everyday encounters with thoughtfully designed products can provide moments of beauty and cultural connection within contemporary life.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Tamausagi is a bottled Japanese tea brewed with "Uji Gyokuro," a tea produced using Kyoto's traditional Uji tea manufacturing technique. Japanese tea is often served for free in many restaurants in Kyoto and all over Japan. We developed Tamausagi to provide delicious tea to increase the value of Uji tea and to promote its production.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Bottle size: Diameter 52mm x Height 196mm
Box size: Width 145mm x Height 242mm x Depth 75mm - Tags
- Tea, Japanese Tea, Green Tea, Uji Gyokuro, Package design
- Production Technology
- To evoke the prestige and exclusive luxury of Kyoto, we applied special gold designs to the bottle. With a rough texture and subdued gleam, the gold exudes a strong presence. A black bottle, which blocks light, was used to protect the tea's quality. We added a circular window to the packaging to allow the rabbit symbol on the bottle to be seen. Inspired by the Gyokuro cultivation method of shading tea leaves from sunlight, we depict a moonlit night with thin clouds.
- Design Challenge
- Due to the risk of the bottle falling over during filling at the factory, it was necessary to adjust the shape of the bottle finely. The most challenging task was to balance functionality with art: to have a design that evokes the simplicity of Japan's beauty without impeding the filling process. Additionally, we spent significant time meticulously designing the bottle's visual appeal to ensure that it is beautiful from every angle.
- Project Duration
- This brand was launched in Kyoto, Japan in September 2020.
- Operation Flow
- Simply open the bottle and pour a glass to enjoy Japanese tea of the highest quality. The bottle design, with its rabbit motif, adds an elegant flair to the table, and when poured into a glass, the tea's beautiful, vibrant golden color catches your eye. The design is perfect for a special time with a loved one or as a gift.
- Research
- We were conscious of the design to enhance and capitalize on the value of Japanese tea itself, which until now has been offered free of charge. Also, the design aims to create a brand of tea that can be served on special occasions, such as a welcome drink or as a non-alcoholic beverage for those who cannot drink alcohol at an event.
- Inspiration
- The bottle has a simple form inspired by Japan's aesthetic of simplicity, known as wabi-sabi. The symbol comes from a rabbit, which guided the guardian god of Uji and looked back to ensure the god was following. The bottle's design, which evokes the image of a moonlit night with thin clouds, represents the Gyokuro tea's cultivation method of shading the leaves from the sun. Traditional Japanese patterns, reminiscent of Uji tea's long history, are incorporated into the clouds' design.
- Image Credits
- Shunbin Co., Ltd.
- Patents
- Trademark: 2023 Kyoto Tea Cooperative
Colors of Tamausagi Bottled Japanese Tea
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