Nearly Three Years In: KURA ONE® Enters Its “Rethinking” Phase | Episode 1: “Facing the Challenge of KURA ONE®” by Katsunari Sawada, Founder of KURA ONE®

KURA ONE® Enters Its “Rethinking” Phase

In just six months, KURA ONE® will mark three years since its launch. I still vividly remember the day I opened that business plan in the summer of 2021. Three goals burned themselves into my mind: “To let people savor the unique character of regions and breweries,” “To reach those who had never picked up sake due to the weight and size of 720ml bottles,” and “To pioneer untapped markets.” How close have we come to achieving those goals since then?

These three years have brought countless encounters and lessons. Our sense of progress has grown — but so has our self-reflection. Standing here at the threshold of this milestone, one question haunts me: “Have the promises we made truly become experiences that ‘reach’ people?” There are things that numbers and achievements alone can’t measure, and I want to examine them once more in our own words.

That’s why in this series, I’ll write without putting on airs — like talking to myself, yet as if we’re all sitting around the same table. What have we accomplished? What remains undone? What challenges should we set for our next steps? I want this to be a time for thinking together with everyone who supports KURA ONE® about what our next stage should look like. That’s why I’m starting this series: “Facing the Challenge of KURA ONE®.”

Why Reflect Now?

I began seriously engaging with the world of sake in 2018. I was a casual drinker at best, but my interest was always focused on one thing: “How do we deliver Japan’s regional character to those who’ve never experienced it — in a form that actually reaches them?” After traveling through all 47 prefectures and listening to key players both domestically and internationally, we kept hitting the same wall — not “what to say” but “how to deliver it.”

At trade shows, both domestic and international, conversations revolved around realities that came before taste: weight, fragility, minimum orders, customs, shipping costs. That’s when we began testing direct international shipping of single bottles by air freight. We achieved results — 50 countries, zero breakage — but shipping costs were dominated by total weight. To expand, we had to make things lighter. Even reducing volume, it was still “heavy.” That’s when I asked myself: “Why bottles?”

Bottles have a beautiful presence, but what makes them necessary for the person picking them up? In the summer of 2021, I launched a project for small-volume sake tasting experiences and completely reconsidered container possibilities from scratch. That’s when I rediscovered aluminum cans: Light, small, light-blocking, transport-efficient — every metric and every voice from the field pushed us forward. After a crowdfunding campaign in summer 2022, we officially launched in January 2023. When we hit walls, we redesigned. When we failed, we turned it into competitive advantage for next time. That’s how we’ve walked these three years.

At the Heart of Our Question: The Gap Between “Telling” and “Delivering”

These three years, we haven’t just talked about containers and labels. No matter how compelling a story might be, if people can’t buy it, if it doesn’t reach them, the experience never begins. KURA ONE® exists to build a bridge between “telling (story)” and “delivering (structure)” — with this premise, we’ve redesigned the can as a “medium.”

• Small portions: Creating the freedom to start with just a sip
• Comparison: Guidelines for enjoying differences and discovering personal preferences
• Portability: Lightness that effortlessly crosses boundaries between daily life and travel
• Documentation: 360° labels and QR codes that expand stories before and after drinking

With these four design elements, we thought we’d been cutting into untapped markets and bridging the distance between targets and regions. But to move beyond “thought we had,” I want to verify the actual feel of it all once more.

What We’ve Learned in Three Years

— Specs Are the Entrance, Experience Is the Essence Light, small, unbreakable — these are merely the entrance to what makes KURA ONE® distinctive. The small thrill before picking up the can, the aroma the moment you open it, the urge to tell someone about it after you’ve finished — what stays in memory is always the “experience” itself, as we’ve learned in the field.

— Turning “I Don’t Understand” Into “I Can Choose” Sake’s reputation for being difficult isn’t just about language barriers. It’s hard to compare, so people can’t find their personal preferences. That’s why we’ve carefully designed small-volume tastings, making the process of taste becoming words something enjoyable in itself.

— Making “Regional Character” and “Brewery Character” Memorable “Brewing dedication,” “good water,” “good rice” — these are common to many breweries. That’s precisely why we need memorable hooks. Label context design, tasting sequences, the faces and seasonal work found through QR codes — we refine our marketing tools from a “memory editing” perspective.

— Finding and Nurturing “Regional Fans” When regional fans increase, local sake gets purchased by name, eventually transforming into “I want to visit there.” The will to “go” has the power to transcend distance and inconvenience. KURA ONE® wants to create that kind of passion.

— Confronting Global “Physics” International friends and buyers say the same thing: “We want it, but it’s heavy.” Total weight, breakage risk, fuel surcharges — physics often stops emotion in its tracks. That’s why we put story and logistics on the same table. KURA ONE® wants to be a brand that shoulders the practical work of balancing both.

The Humble Scene at Our Origin

There are days when we line up three cans and taste them sip by sip with friends: “This one smells like pears.” “I prefer the finish on this one.”

No technical terms needed. Words that arise naturally invite the next sip and bring regional landscapes with them. KURA ONE® wants to multiply this kind of “casual discovery chain reaction.” Behind it all, the craftsman’s touch and seasonal variations quietly reflect in the sake quality. Professional evaluation criteria are precious, but beginners’ words certainly have the power to open new markets too.

What We Want to Share in the Coming Months

This series isn’t a memoir. It’s an “open” sharing of the process of examining past decisions and converting them into future designs.

• Why cans?: The “experiential value” beyond lightness and light-blocking properties
• Why small portions?: How to make comparison and discovery intuitive
• Why “drinking like traveling”?: Narrative expansion design
• How to deliver to the world?: The reality of small-lot shipping and our approach to solutions

Using field voices, data, and records of failures as materials, we’ll connect the dots.

To Our Readers

This series isn’t an announcement of something complete, but a sharing of questions and tangible experiences. Please tell us about any discomfort you feel while reading, field wisdom, favorite ways of drinking, moments from daily life. Rather than showing “correct answers,” KURA ONE® wants to be in a position of discovering together with you.

Next time, I’ll dig deeper into the “telling/delivering” gap that has provided the most insights in our trials so far, with specific episodes.

[Editor’s Note]

The sound of opening a can is small, but it’s enough to shift your mood. While writing, I remembered the temperature of the day I first held that initial bottle. Walking toward the three-year milestone, we’re entering a season of “rethinking” once more.