Colourful Awamori: Japanese Bottle Labels

30 Apr 2007 Category: Features, Graphics, Japan

Colourful Awamori: Japanese Bottle Labels

You don't need to drink those all... simply looking at the colorful Awamori labels will make you happy too!

We have been waiting quite long for this: after a shocking period of awfully cold weather, Golden Week has finally arrived! When the whole country of Japan enjoys its annual spring holiday, some of you will quickly escape noisy Tokyo to relax under the Okinawan sun – blue sky, blue sea and the gentle lull of island time… Mmmm! PingMag is going to show you a nice selection of the wonderfully colourful labels of Awamori bottles, the specially brewed Okinawan sake. If you haven‘t had the opportunity to take a sip yet, we will prepare you with an introductory course along the way. (But won’t help you with the hangover…)

Written by Ryoko

‘Seaser’ is the Okinawan guardian or talisman to protect against evil spirits and bring good luck. These two little fellas are Seasers from the Okinawa-based artist Ryu Umehara. And please, Seasers, look after us so we don’t drop dead drunk before we’ve finished this article!

Awamori! Anyone tasted it must have somehow experienced its high alcohol percentage and more or less its possible aftereffects… In fact, it consists mainly of alcohol and water, as unlike Japanese sake there is hardly any sugar in it. Meaning, a typical Awamori drink in Okinawa has around 30%! Recently though, you can get a slightly softer 25% Awamori at the counter. However, what makes Awamori so special is its particular taste and smell - which is based on Thai rice, its main ingredient.

Just like wine, Awamori improves with age: the longer you leave it the richer scent and taste become. Before World War II, rich homes in Okinawa treasured vintage Awamori of up to 100 or even 200 years old. We don’t have to mention that the key to a sake cellar was guarded even closer than the key to the family safe… Sadly the war caused huge devastation of the entire main island, and nowadays it’s all but impossible to find vintages of age.


A tour through an Awamori distillery: steamed rice is being sprinkled with yeast…

… to let it ferment in the stills afterwards.

Shelves stocked with Awamori in the Kusu Bar Karakara in Okinawa.

Awamori bottle labels are truly colourful, like this one with cute stylized nature elements such as water and blossoms. It is called ‘Shinsen’.

This romantic motif including a drowning sun is called ‘Tokiwa’ – watch the storch…

What a combination: wallpaper and tree. ‘Kumejima’

Seasers and yeast, called ‘Miyano Hana’.

Awamori: where does it come from?

The origins of Awamori are not certain. However, it is said that its trade between Thailand, China and other Asian countries has been going on for more than 500 years.

The Name

So, why is it called Awamori at all? In Japanese, ‘awa’ means bubbles, and ‘moru’ means something like ‘rising up’. There are lots of different theories behind the name of ‘awamori’. One reasonable one is that when you pour alcohol, the amount of froth shows the alcohol content and the ‘bubbles rise up’, hence ‘Awamori’. Who knows if these are the real roots of the name – but it sounds convincing nevertheless!


‘Awanami’

‘Terushima’

”A name that means the finest”: ‘Zuisen’ (left). ‘Manza’ (right) has a lovely combination of a bright green tree with white crests.

Nice design: ‘Tama no tsuyu’

Sakura, cherry blossoms, for a floral note: ‘Sakura ichiban’

Awamori: Become An Expert in 5 Minutes! (huh, we didn’t mean the drinking aspect…)

Here are a few facts for you to show off: as mentioned before, Awamori has hardly any sugar contents. As a consequence, compared with beer or sake it is a low calorie drink and can actually improve your blood circulation… As long as you don’t drink too much, of course! Smell and taste are quite unique which won’t make you forget your first experience. To enjoy it most, don’t gulp it down like beer. Rather sip it slowly and experience how flavour and scent subtly change in your mouth. As for you cocktail lovers, you can mix Awamori in all kinds of ways too. Straight on ice or with water is something for purists. Also, it’s supposed to be pretty good with tonic, or even coke. Even try mixing it with coffee – yum! Awamori goes great with any Japanese, Chinese or Western food.

From left to right: ‘Taragawa’, ‘Kumesen’ and ‘Kura’. Note the stylized water in the middle and the beautiful typography on far right!

A rustic roof! ‘Matsufuji’

Simplicity! Let alone the colour combination: ‘Taro’

Now, where is the next bar?

The Kusu Bar Karacara in Naha, Okinawa, helped us an awful lot with the facts and the labels. Believe us, there you can enjoy some of the rarest vintage Awamori that exists: besides stocking the main brands from every Awamori distillery in Okinawa, you can try there 20-year-old vintages that are hard to find. As you taste the vintages, the owner will tell you all you ever wanted to know about Awamori. Karacara is a bar, but Okinawan families with kids are welcome, too, and the menu has a variety of delicious Okinawan foods…

The Kusu Bar Karacara in Naha, Okinawa, provided us with all those great Awamori labels. Thank you, Karacara!

Yellow and blue waters! ‘Maifuna’

Dynamic diagonals! ‘Sakimoto’

Picture puzzle – find all the little things on the label: ‘Harusame’

Islands surrounded by the ocean – of course, ships have to be on the label, too: ‘Nankou’

Peacock? Dragon? Stork? Wonderful drawings: ‘Yonaguni’

A leaf-eating dragon: ‘Ryukyu’

We hope you enjoyed our little expedition to Okinawa and its great Awamori variety. If you are planning a trip to Naha anytime in the near future, you absolutely have to drop by Kusu Bar Karacara and try some for yourself!

78 Comments

  1. Cheers! These colorful labels do remind me of Okinawa breath and sound.

    Posted by: curious pig on April 30th, 2007 at 7:44 pm

  2. nice bottle arts!!

    Posted by: Balakumar Muthu on April 30th, 2007 at 10:21 pm

  3. [...] PingMag hat einen – wie immer visuell sehr anregenden – Post mit dem Titel Colourful Awamori: Japanese Bootle Labels. Sehr [...]

    Posted by: PingMag: Labels von japanischen Bierflaschen | TechNovelty on April 30th, 2007 at 11:40 pm

  4. You misspelled “Bottle” in the headline.
    FYI

    Posted by: monkey on May 1st, 2007 at 5:14 am

  5. [...] de bebidas japonesas En PingMag tienen un interesante artículo acerca de las etiquetas de las botellas de bebidas japonesas. Son [...]

    Posted by: Etiquetas de bebidas japonesas « ddsign on May 1st, 2007 at 6:10 am

  6. Thanks for good work
    Exellent Site!

    Posted by: Grisloy on May 1st, 2007 at 7:26 am

  7. My friend tried some 50% alcohol awamori once and doesn’t remember anything that happened the following 24 hours.

    Posted by: Joseph on May 1st, 2007 at 5:55 pm

  8. Isn’t the name of those Okinawan lions ’shisa’ and not “seaser” as you’ve spelt it?

    Posted by: Chidade on May 1st, 2007 at 10:11 pm

  9. Prost!

    Posted by: suppe on May 2nd, 2007 at 9:08 am

  10. Hi Chidade,

    There are many spelling for those lions, Shisa, Sisa, Seasar, Seasir, Sheser… but apparently “Seaser” is more common..

    Posted by: chiemi on May 2nd, 2007 at 3:20 pm

  11. Spectacular!

    Posted by: Moira on May 3rd, 2007 at 9:38 am

  12. [...] May 3, 2007 at 8:43 pm · Filed under Uncategorized interesting design of Awamori, sake from Okinawa [...]

    Posted by: Lisenocalis on May 4th, 2007 at 5:44 am

  13. Awamori does mix great with a varety of different juices and sodas– my personal favorite is pineapple juice! Give it a try sometime!

    Also, I took a tour of the zuisen distilery when I visited Okinawa last October. The people who work there are so friendly and you get to try out all different kinds of awamori.

    kanpai!

    Posted by: sachi808 on May 9th, 2007 at 7:17 am

  14. [...] Vi giro anche due links che riguardano il packaging alimentare in cui troverete molti esempi visivi: Etichettando Japanese Bottle Labels [...]

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  15. Those labels are amazing! It’s very vernacular.

    Posted by: Yuko on May 10th, 2007 at 9:37 am

  16. [...] Awamori And The Colourful Labels A very refreshing article again from PingMag and they kept continuing to deliver at what they do best. What’s really interesting about this article is the in-depth research and content presentation which normally are very ‘boring’ but they managed to show the beauty of wine bottle art to us. And they’d even talk about Japan’s Children Day! [...]

    Posted by: Design Enterprise » Blog Archive » Evolving Designs on May 10th, 2007 at 4:07 pm

  17. Very interesting labels, and too fascinating the information about Awamori. Thanks a lot!

    Posted by: Federico Diaz Mastellone on May 17th, 2007 at 3:56 am

  18. very interesting way of keeping their own cultural and traditional aesthetics!!! Cool !!

    Posted by: evon on June 6th, 2007 at 11:41 am

  19. ya japanese have good tradition i like it.

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