Japanese Packaging Design #6: Imitating Nature

18 Feb 2008 Category: Arts & Crafts, Features, Japan, Products

Japanese Packaging Design #6: Imitating Nature

Now, which is natural and which would be the replica? Bamboo sheath - the leaf that covers the sprouting bamboo shoot - is a traditional Japanese food wrapping material. You see above a natural example, and below its cardboard box replica.

We had some critical comments on our last piece about beautiful - but not quite eco-conscious - PET bottle design in Japan! You were very right, beloved reader. Nevertheless, we still feel compelled to introduce you to just a few exceptional packages, which at least allude to flowers, fruits… or bottles resembling bamboo. Imitating is a recurring phenomenon in Japanese packaging design. So today, PingMag exposes you to some of the original packaging these imitations are derived from and the fascinating forms they’ve taken on since.

Written by Bianca Beuttel

We have to stress this: Nature and its connotations play a key role in Japanese aesthetics. Imitation per se isn’t disapproved of here; the difference provides a degree of abstraction. If you remember the example of the package looking like a Morning Glory, you realise its concept: It acts as a flower while remaining nothing else than packaging. It’s skillful craft and amazing creativity evoke imagination.

Unquestionably, among the most amazing examples are those made of natural materials such as bamboo, straw or wood. Many are collected in the famous How to Wrap Five More Eggs by Hideyuki Oka. He bemoans the disappearing of these packages - and admittedly, we couldn’t find the prominent egg wrapping depicted on the book’s cover. However, keep an eye out at department store food markets, at The Garden - or rely on coincidence. We purchased the example below at a temporary stall at Tokyo’s Iidabashi station:

Simplicity And Functionality

A deliciously set of five “sasa-dango,” dumplings wrapped in bamboo grass, a specialty from Niigata.

The intriguing nature of these packages is their simplicity, functionality, and beauty! Hideyuki Oka characterizes them as packaging born out of necessity meant to preserve food and make it easily portable, made of whatever material found at hand in the rural areas of their origin.


… and the unwrapped “sasa-dango:” The green colour of the dumplings derives from yomogi (mugwort) mixed into the dough.

The leaves are used as they are, from the tip to the stalk. Only a single thread of straw ties up each piece! A second try is impossible… Oka explains further: “Such packages were not products of contemplation, nor yet of theory. They assumed their shapes over years and years of unconscious use and experimentation.”

Bamboo Vessels

Some of these traditional packages are limited to seasons, for example mizu-yokan, soft azuki bean jelly, filled in a bamboo tube – a delicacy in hot sweaty summers!
Then we have bamboo:

Two different kinds of natural bamboo are employed here: A section of a bamboo stem covered with a sasa (bamboo grass) leaf…

… and a bamboo container holding “mizu-yokan,” soft azuki bean jelly. By Furyudo.

Bamboo is naturally divided into sections and here it ingeniously functions as the mould and the container for the jelly as well. Efficient! Amazing! Perfect!
But to temper the delight: There is an extra tool required to make the yokan slip out of its container. This involves additional effort:

But you’d need that too: Manual and tool to pierce a hole in the bottom of the (real) bamboo.

In contrast, the plastic replica is easier to open:

Another package of mizu-yokan: This time a fake bamboo tube; bought at an ordinary supermarket.

This fake bamboo package has a clever built-in air escape. Nevertheless, it lacks its model’s beauty and is not recyclable.

Wrapped Wrappers

This two bite-sized snack wrapped in bamboo grass is called “chimaki sushi.” By caterer Fukutsuchi for ¥420. Wrapped in additional plastic foil! Argh!

This chimaki sushi is as carefully enveloped in cellophane as it is wrapped into bamboo grass leaves. Traditional Japanese packaging requires manual labour. An effort that makes it rare or rather expensive.

Symbolic Representations

Once upon in the countryside, farmers started selling lunch sets to train travellers passing by: They prepared onigiri, rice balls, with pickled radish and wrapped them in bamboo sheaths. Whether fact or fiction – today’s lunch sets still refer to this origin.

This lunch set by caterer Koichian is wrapped in natural bamboo sheath, including a bamboo ribbon…

… inside there are three different flavoured onigiri rice balls.

No wonder the bamboo sheath has become a symbol for unadorned rustic freshness. It not only transfers its aroma to the rice inside, but also its natural, i.e. unaltered, trustworthy charm.

The replica today:

In order to benefit from this and increase efficiency, the today’s bamboo sheath’s texture is often simply printed on the wrapper. See for the lunch box (below) offering mackerel sushi, which is – according to its long but poetic product name – grilled on Wakasa beach and delivered by Michiko.

Bamboo sheath gone boxy - imprinted texture on a lunch box by Umi no Megumi.

Opened box: We are dazzled by the aluminium reflection of the cardboard and plastic wrappers…

What a delicious dish! But all these sealed bags appear counterproductive to the intended impression of natural freshness. Furthermore, it contradicts the concept of Japanese packaging design, which celebrates the moment of unwrapping.

On The Surface

Various lunch boxes: Valuable materials like wood and lacquered ware are imitated by polystyrene foam and plastic.

Today, as symbols of convenience, cleanness and control, all kinds of plastics may be closer at hand than any other material. However, they lack beauty and warmth. To compensate, many packages borrow from nature and traditional craft.

On the left: Beautiful trays made of wood, “washi,” Japanese paper, and lacquered ware… Right: When turned upside down, it’s just another variation of clad polystyrene foam.

Those polystyrene trays are cladded with fake wood hold fish or meat for an every day meal. Though often regarded as poor imitation, it illustrates the Japanese need to enrich even ordinary things with a pleasant touch. These trays disguise their actual material quite well– but also suspiciously conceal their impact on the environment.

Attractively designed natto (fermented soybeans) package - in a polystyrene bowl. By manufacturer Kume.

Natto is only complete with the obligatory topping of condiment sachets: mustard and tsuyu sauce.

Pictured above is the most common way natto (fermented soybeans) is packaged nowadays in Japan - in a bowl of polystyrene foam. Since the healthy natto is pretty popular, it leaves us with an enormous pile of polystyrene waste. One slight glimmer of hope are the re-useable ‘Eco Style Cup Noodles’ cups we recently showed you…

Naturally Straw

Straw-wrapped natto by Tengu-natto from Mito. This area in Ibaraki prefecture is famous for it.

Interesting! Inside the package, the soybeans happily intermingle with the straw.

Straw as natural packaging? It can be described as natto’s ‘processing’ packaging: Natto is made from steamed soybeans fermented with a culture of Bacillus subtilis natto - which is naturally found in rice straw.
Despite natto being still available in these straw packages, a method to produce a starter culture in the laboratory replaces this natural process and therefore makes other packaging materials possible. Still, it doesn’t have to be necessarily polystyrene foam*

Boat Shapes

‘Funa-natto:’ Natto in a boat shaped package by Marushin. How cute!

Look closely: The inner lining of the boat package is made of natural wood.

This special natto comes from the Kujigawa area in Ibaraki. Its wrapper is folded into a boat to remind us of ferryboats crossing the river. How romantic! And although the outer wrapper is made of paper imitating wood texture, the natto inside is wrapped in the shaving of natural wood.

Triangular Forms

Actually, a triangular shape makes convincing sense: It causes a change of direction so that the shaving is wrapped around every edge:

Natto wrapped in a triangular wood shaving by Shimonita.

Natto unwrapped: Notice the dotted pattern the beans have left on the wood. Should be art…

This unique natto is wrapped in a thin wood shaving too. Similar to the bamboo grass, this is another method to add aroma. Note: These delicate interactions between the wrapped and the wrapper define the unique irreplacable quality of natural materials. To appeal to all our senses!

Original Vs. Imitation - Together!

Package of fuki-miso, fermented soybean paste flavoured with Giant Butterbur, by Ganko Oyaji.

At first, this food souvenir from Nagano prefecture combines a mixture of odd choices: From the picture on the right, you may not be sure whether the cord handle is real or fake. It is not only a combination of both, but also features an eco-conscious element: Reed!
Pay attention to the bowl. It was covered by a foil picturing a basket woven from split bamboo – another traditional packaging emphasising rustic simplicity. [See a natural one we already showed you.]

Its subtly structured bowl is made from 100 percent natural reed, microwave safe and resistant to water and oil. Manufactured by Masuki.

Bamboo, like reed, is a fast growers. It can be composted and return to crop-soil-cycle – and both materials were used for the bowl. Also, grown on the shore or riverbanks, reed doesn’t compete for acreage with the food crop – as do plants grown for biodiesel. As an alternative to plastics worth keeping in mind.

Bonus: Imitation Serving As Indication


Avocado ripeness “indicator:” Seen at a COOP supermarket in Tokyo.

Sometimes, the imitation becomes a clever and helpful trick itself: The label (left) reflects the skin colour of a ripe, ready-to-eat avocado. Through the cut-out you can compare it directly with the current colour of the fruit. Nifty!

Astounding, isn’t it? We so want to see many more creative ideas that give nature an intelligent twist for our environmental-conscious century!

51 Comments

  1. Fantastic… but I missed banana juice

    http://www.whatspop.com/blog/uploads/banana_juice.jpg

    Posted by: nyuudo on February 18th, 2008 at 9:44 pm

  2. Love the package for Mizu Yokan ! Pure ingenuity !

    Posted by: blauereiter on February 18th, 2008 at 10:24 pm

  3. Nice design~~~~but i want to say……
    Using bamboo as a material for packaging was not the tradition from Japan, it was from ancient China:)

    Posted by: tunokuda on February 19th, 2008 at 12:00 am

  4. Thanks for posting that. One of my most vivid experiences from art school, our teacher passed around an old book from Japan showing these natural packaging techniques. I’ll never forget seeing a picture of a dozen eggs wrapped in straw. The book claimed the vendor could weave them in about 30 seconds. I always wondered if anyone was still using these ancient methods.

    Posted by: Charles on February 19th, 2008 at 12:33 am

  5. [...] this article Pingmag.jp continues its series on Japanese packaging design. Nature and its connotations play a key role in [...]

    Posted by: Japanese Packaging Design: Imitating Nature | designed.nu on February 19th, 2008 at 6:51 am

  6. Really nice. I wish there was this kind of beauty and detail on British packaging.
    We often get cheap imports from Arabic countries and can’t read the packaging half of the time. The design is awful too.
    Love the bamboo products, great article!

    Posted by: Badger on February 19th, 2008 at 8:28 am

  7. I would be curious to know the price difference between the mizu yokan in the real bamboo vs. fake bamboo. I bet the real bamboo one is a lot more expensive.

    Posted by: Claire on February 19th, 2008 at 10:14 am

  8. This looks fantastic :D

    Mike
    http://www.abc-packaging.com

    Posted by: Mike on February 19th, 2008 at 6:59 pm

  9. [...] link to webpage [...]

    Posted by: TOTALNONSENSE » Archive » Japanese packaging using natural material on February 20th, 2008 at 2:19 am

  10. We have that kind of packaging in tamales too!

    Posted by: Garfio on February 20th, 2008 at 5:42 am

  11. beautiful waste!

    Posted by: f. on February 20th, 2008 at 4:54 pm

  12. Love all of these faux wood and bamboo designs!

    Posted by: clara on February 21st, 2008 at 1:24 am

  13. It was surprising to me. I live in Belgium and I came from Hungary. We don’t see very often these packages but I like it. Great article.

    Posted by: Andrei on February 21st, 2008 at 7:33 am

  14. [...] 什么是自然的，什么是复制品？竹叶是一个传统的日本食品包装材料。上面是一个自然的包装例子，而下面那个是纸板模仿品。 我们要强调一点：大自然及其内涵在日本美学中起到了关键作用。我们在这里并非不赞成模仿；模仿与自然之间的差异提供了某种程度的抽象。 简单性和功能性 美味套装：一套五个“笹团子”，团子裹在竹叶里，特产，新泻特产。 这些天然包装材料的有趣指出在于其简单性，功能性和美观！link [...]

    Posted by: 4空间 » Blog Archive » 日本的天然包装设计 on February 21st, 2008 at 7:07 pm

  15. [...] Ping-Mag exposes you to Japanese packaging that’s constructed to look like natural elements. [...]

    Posted by: doane paper » Japanese Look-a-like Natural Packaging on February 22nd, 2008 at 2:34 am

  16. [...] Japanese Packaging Design: Imitating Nature (tags: design food nature 日本) [...]

    Posted by: links for 2008-02-22 « Mandarine on February 22nd, 2008 at 1:31 pm

  17. [...] Link [...]

    Posted by: News » Real fake (un)natural Japanese packaging on February 23rd, 2008 at 3:40 pm

  18. [...] 我们要强调一点：大自然及其内涵在日本美学中起到了关键作用。我们在这里并非不赞成模仿，但模仿与自然之间的差异提供了某种程度的抽象。 什么是自然的，什么是复制品？竹叶是一个传统的日本食品包装材料。上面是一个自然的包装例子，而下面那个是纸板模仿品。 简单性和功能性 美味套装：一套五个“笹团子”，团子裹在竹叶里，特产，新泻特产。 这些天然包装材料的有趣指出在于其简单性，功能性和美观！ 竹制容器 一些这些传统的包装只限于季节，例如水羊羹 ，一种软的豆豆果冻，装在一个竹筒里，炎热的夏季的一种美味小吃！ 下面是我们使用的竹子包装： 两种不同的竹产物被结合在一起作为包装材料，绿色的新鲜竹叶盖住一段开口的竹筒 内装水羊羹，風流堂产品。 与之相比，塑料的仿冒包装更容易打开。 另一种水羊羹的包装，低价超市买到的冒牌货（包装是假的） 这个假竹子包都有一个聪明的内置式空气推包。然而，它缺乏其原模美丽，而且不可可循环再用。 #21日我在私人BLOG——4空间上发布了《日本的天然包装设计》，这是日本著名BLOG网站PINGMAG上关于包装设计的系列文章之一，而今日波波发了此文，我想，就在煎蛋发个摘要吧，原文太长，感兴趣者可去我的站4空间看看吧。  用鲜果订阅煎蛋，关注每天的新鲜资讯 / GEEKS’ BOBOING & PLAYBUS [...]

    Posted by: 日本的天然包装设计(摘要) | 煎蛋 on February 23rd, 2008 at 10:10 pm

  19. looks like the plastic bamboo package is recylable; it appears to have a japanese recycling logo on the bottom. perhaps you meant that it was not biodegradable?

    Posted by: arioto on February 24th, 2008 at 8:55 am

  20. [...] la calidad y lo natural se dan la mano pueden salir unos excelentes empaques con toda la sensibilidad japonesa a flor de [...]

    Posted by: Sección Aurea » Blog Archive » calidad natural on February 24th, 2008 at 8:58 pm

  21. These packaging styles are so creative and so environment friendly. These are so cool!

    Rochelle
    abc-packaging.com

    Posted by: Anonymous on February 28th, 2008 at 6:09 am

  22. very interesting article … creativity haz no limits

    Posted by: james | studiosushi on February 28th, 2008 at 7:01 am

  23. [...] to use the influence of nature and apply it to their art and aesthetics. They have just launched new designs incorporating bamboo, hemp, lacquer wood and soybeans. The intriguing nature of these packages is [...]

    Posted by: Lost At E Minor: Music, illustration, art, photography and more » Imitating Nature: Japanese Packaging Design on March 1st, 2008 at 4:43 am

  24. [...] Japanese Packaging Design by pingmag: Nature and its connotations play a key role in Japanese aesthetics. The intriguing nature of these packages is their simplicity, functionality, and beauty. [...]

    Posted by: Japanese Packaging Design: Imitating Nature | Sideblog | Smashing Magazine on March 3rd, 2008 at 11:46 pm

  25. [...] La naturaleza y sus connotaciones son claves en la estética japonesa. El concepto de diseño de empaques japonés celebra el momento de abrilos. Seguir leyendo en PingMag [...]

    Posted by: Apuntes al Margen | Diseño japonés de empaques on March 6th, 2008 at 7:44 am

  26. excellant and inspiring :)

    Posted by: vivek on March 6th, 2008 at 2:25 pm

  27. Hi PingMag Team!
    I’m pretty worry about plastics on my daily life in Japan. I generate a lot of trash and i’m trying to be “eco-friendly”.
    I think we “designers” are part RESPONSIBLE for the OIL that goes directly to the trash can.
    We have to find new solutions, environmental solutions for package.
    MY answer for the people that wrote about RECYCLING is: recycling is not a solution at all.
    Recycle plastic requires OIL to be Recycle!
    Please see this excellent video to make your ideas clear:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqZMTY4V7Ts

    Al público en Español, antes de hablar de la “estética” japonesa y naturalezas falsas, hay que pensar en como generar productos que sean mas ecologicos. Nosotros “diseñadores” somo en parte responsables por mucha de la basura que se produce al no proveer de soluciones inteligentes a este gran problema.

    Posted by: David Jimenez on March 6th, 2008 at 4:38 pm

  28. very informative .in southern india also there is a long tradition ,of eating and packing in banana leaves.

    Posted by: vijay prakash on March 8th, 2008 at 6:34 pm

  29. [...] Japanese Packaging Design by pingmag: Nature and its connotations play a key role in Japanese aesthetics. The intriguing nature of these packages is their simplicity, functionality, and beauty. [...]

    Posted by: tomlovesyou | pingmag Design on March 9th, 2008 at 6:33 pm

  30. Last sumer just as we were leaving Hakata to go back to Korea we went shopping in the train station for bento to take on the ferry (because there is nothing in the ferry terminal worth buying) and we sprang for 2 beautiful wooden boxes of steamed eel. They were not only beautiful but they were totally functional as stacking steamers with holes pierced in the bottoms so that steam could wind its way upward through the stack carrying the flavor through all of the eels and then out to seduce the noses of shoppers. The flavor of the hot wood combined with the fatty eel and its sauce to create a wonderful farewell to Japanese cuisine. When we got back to Korea we used the containers as boxes for ceramic shards in our collection to keep the various shards separated by region of origin. I can’t tell whether I liked the eels or boxes better. We did bring one back to Philadelphia and what I really find amusing in light of the article is that the box is made of 2 kinds of real wood; a bottom perforated layer of aromatic fine grained wood designed to impart flavor and a featureless kind of wood which is carefully scored and bent to form the walls of the box out of one continuous strip. The truly Japanese point is that the featureless wood is carefully printed with the exact grain of the other wood but only on the outside since the eel and rice would hide the interior walls while the box is full.

    Posted by: David McClelland on March 13th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

  31. [...] http://pingmag.jp/2008/02/18/japanese-packaging-design-6-imitating-nature/ [...]

    Posted by: A[P]SOTW Assignment: Turning Japanese [And I Hope Anyone In Advertising Has A Go, Not Just Planners] « The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] on March 26th, 2008 at 8:30 am

  32. Great designs. It would be nice if more packaging could be aesthetic as well as recyclable or at least multi-functional.

    Posted by: bluebirds and blossoms on March 26th, 2008 at 2:11 pm

  33. [...] my small example of Earth related design brought to by and great blog from Japan called Ping Mag. Imitating Nature Its not environmental, I’m sure there are many great examples out there, but it is nature [...]

    Posted by: News of Ryan Shull » Happy Earth Day! on April 23rd, 2008 at 1:20 pm

  34. [...] Packaging Un completo artículo centrado en el packaging natural de Japón, donde sabemos que desde tiempos inmemoriales usaron [...]

    Posted by: Packaging imitando a la naturaleza | Isopixel on April 28th, 2008 at 4:54 pm

  35. [...] imitates natural materials — it’s a characteristic that is nicely documented here in this article on [...]

    Posted by: Banana juice at iainclaridge.net on April 30th, 2008 at 9:15 pm

  36. [...] acá el link al artículo en Ping Mag. [...]

    Posted by: Imitando a la naturaleza « PIXELADA on May 1st, 2008 at 1:45 am

  37. beautiful and funny and beautiful packaging simple in design

    Posted by: shops seiten on May 23rd, 2008 at 9:31 pm

  38. Japanese Packaging Design!These are so cool!

    Posted by: katlama on May 31st, 2008 at 2:10 pm

  39. 挺好的，

    Posted by: shaomin lu on June 1st, 2008 at 9:45 pm

  40. Fantastic Packaging, cool&creative design packaging I ever see

    Posted by: Reta on July 2nd, 2008 at 1:42 pm

  41. [...] Se você gosta de embalagens naturais (ou imitando as naturais), não deixe de conferir este artigo da PingMag. [...]

    Posted by: Embalagem em bambu da Furyudo | nFactory.org on October 6th, 2008 at 1:57 am

  42. [...] ya entendieron dónde encontrar ideas para hacer el mejor packaging del mundo. Según la revista Ping Mag, la imitación de la naturaleza es una tendencia fuerte en el diseño [...]

    Posted by: Aprender de la naturaleza | Abri los ojos on November 4th, 2008 at 6:43 am

  43. [...] Biomimicking [...]

    Posted by: Package-a-palooza! at Interaction Design Umeå on November 18th, 2008 at 9:01 pm

  44. Some fantastic designs! I love the nature effects! The packaging designs make everything seem like a gift that’s too good to open.

    Posted by: Margaret-Anne on December 10th, 2008 at 11:40 pm

  45. [...] Vejam outros exemplos em: http://pingmag.jp/2008/02/18/japanese-packaging-design-6-imitating-nature/ [...]

    Posted by: Imitando a natureza « Embalagem Sustentavel on January 8th, 2009 at 12:29 am

  46. bravoo!! and saikoo for pingmagz for posting the packaging articles continoustly.. but i have an opinion for this theme. Why must imitating the nature if can get the real from nature. It can reduce the global warming if we use packaging that basically from nature .

    Posted by: pit on January 13th, 2009 at 7:45 pm

  47. [...] firsthand anything from how indigo dye or kimono silk is made, to a survey of Japanese packaging, (old and new), to a tour of shop signs and barber poles around [...]

    Posted by: Pingmag Make archive « The Crafts Dept. on April 18th, 2009 at 6:14 am

  48. [...] RESOURCE: lostateminor, hi.baidu, oneinchpunch, icimod, picasaweb.google, pingmag [...]

    Posted by: Design Swan » Blog Archive » Natural Style Package Design on May 18th, 2009 at 9:22 am

  49. Great designs, I love natural stuff.

    Posted by: Phaoloo on June 26th, 2009 at 9:25 am

  50. [...] grass and a straw thread, and was borne out of the need to preserve the food and ‘make it easily portable‘. On the Ping Magazine website, Hideyuki Oka explains that: ‘Such packages were not [...]

    Posted by: Sasa-dango dumplings - New Food and Packaging | Lost At E Minor: For creative people on September 17th, 2009 at 10:04 pm

  51. [...] it! I know Japanese hip hop fans are gonna love this, they’re packaging-crazy. (peep here and [...]

    Posted by: MissInfo.tv » Exclusive: Freeway x Jake One’s Stimulus Package-ing genius moment! (Video) on January 27th, 2010 at 12:43 am

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