Imitating Nature: Japanese packaging design
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How to Wrap Five More Eggs: Traditional Japanese Packaging by Hideyuki Oka is an easy read with the story told primarily through the book’s pictures. As the title suggests, it’s all about a traditional form of Japanese packaging, which mostly incorporates food. The idea behind it is that when you present someone with a cake, for instance, and it’s nicely packaged, that they get a feeling that you want them to enjoy the cake. The five eggs of the title are bound with straw and woven in an indigenous way. Hideyuki Oka characterizes the packaging as being as ‘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’.
2 comments
Gary Thursday 6 March 2008
Very interesting. Over here in Malaysia, many of the traditional delicacies are wonderfully wrapped like a “ketupat” which is rice (occasionally glutinous rice) wrapped in a woven palm leaf/bamboo leaf pouch which is then boiled or steamed.
I totally agree with Oka that the packaging is ‘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.’ I really like his egg-packaging. It looks very decorative as well as being functional at the same time.
Rochelle Friday 7 March 2008
The Japanese always seems to find ways of incorporating art in packaging. Its so simple and yet so beautiful. Eco-friendly too. In the northern parts of Luzon Island in the Philippines, there is a delicacy known as binungay. It is also sweet glutinous rice cooked inside a bamboo stalk. In order to eat it, the bamboo needs to be “hacked”. There is also another traditional food that is served and often sold in empty coconut husks. Its called Kalamay.
Great article. Love the eggs.
Sincerely,
Rochelle
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