Designing an Experience of ‘Tasting Sake Like a Journey | Part 7:“Facing the Challenge of KURA ONE®” by Katsunari Sawada, Founder
When opening a single can, there are moments when you feel the beginning of a journey. As the aroma rises and the flavor spreads, the landscape of a “place” and memories of “people” faintly emerge from within. What KURA ONE® cherishes is not simply drinking sake, but designing an experience of tasting like taking a journey. Even without traveling far, you can encounter regions and people through a single can in your palm. We have been giving form to such moments of small journeys.
Why Do We Connect It with “Journey”?
Different Destinations with Each Can
The joy of travel lies not in the movement itself, but in the “different destinations.” Even within the same country, as regions change, so do the landscapes, food, and people. The same applies to sake. When rice and water change, the character transforms completely. KURA ONE® incorporates travel-like discoveries into daily life by letting people confirm these differences through small-portion comparisons.
Transforming “Distance” into “Closeness”
What makes travel special is encountering things you can’t usually meet. However, distance often becomes a barrier. Therefore, we attempt to transform distance into closeness using cans as our medium. When you take it from the refrigerator, the contours of a place immediately emerge right there. This is the sense of distance we want to deliver.
Travel Mechanisms Embedded in the Can
360° Labels as Small Maps
Cans can carry information not just in one direction, but all around 360°. The front displays the brand name, the sides provide clues to the taste, and the back tells regional stories. The circular motion of turning it around draws out the next interest, just like flipping through a travel guidebook.
QR Codes as “Next Stations”
When you scan the QR code, you find the voices of makers, seasonal landscapes, and dining suggestions. Rather than ending after drinking, experiences connect like “next stations.” The entrance hidden in the label’s margins serves as a travel signpost itself.
Multi-Tasting = Comparing Itineraries
When you taste not just one bottle, but three or six side by side, a sensation like comparing travel itineraries emerges. Just as you might say “this city is quiet” or “that city is lively,” words like “this one is clear” or “that one is robust” naturally arise. Designs that enable comparison serve as clues for drawing taste maps.
Layering Travel’s Memory-Making Qualities into Experience
Fragments of Experience Accumulate
Travel memories are made of fragments — a single photograph, a bite of food, someone’s smile. KURA ONE® also values the accumulation of fragments like the moment of picking up a can, the sip of drinking, the conversation that follows. Quality over quantity. The more fragments layer, the thicker the memory becomes.
“Wanting to Share” Calls for What’s Next
After travel, people want to tell someone about it. Similarly, when words like “this one tastes like pears” or “it had an ocean scent” naturally emerge, they become triggers for the next consumption or next journey. KURA ONE®’s mission is to connect regions and people through designs that draw out words.
While Hinting at Our Vision
Building Bridges Between “Buying” and “Visiting”
Inside us, there are words we haven’t yet made public. But at our foundation lies a future where regional character moves people’s actions. Buying leads to visiting, and visiting creates new value. We want to demonstrate this cycle through our products.
Changing to Preserve
The appeal of travel also lies in continuing through change. Neither regions nor people can sustain themselves by merely preserving the same form. We chose lightness, small capacity, and cans as our medium not to destroy tradition, but as change for continuation. KURA ONE® plays the role of translating and conveying this story of change.
Modest Scenes
“This has the scent of a seaside town.” “Let’s try something from the mountains next.” Comparing sake like choosing travel destinations while blown by the evening breeze. Because the cans are small, they’re easy to line up casually. Words naturally become travel metaphors. What KURA ONE® wants to see are such small travel journals of daily life.
To Our Readers
Have you ever experienced “tasting sake like a journey”? Whether it was a cup you encountered while traveling or a night of comparison with someone at home, please share that memory with us. KURA ONE® uses such voices as nourishment for our next designs.
[Editor’s Note]
The phrase “tasting like a journey” came up in a chance conversation. But looking back, it might have been what we were aiming for from the beginning. Inside a small can lies not just sake quality, but regional landscapes and people’s livelihoods. We hope you’ll join us again next time to peek into those landscapes together.
