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Nov 21st
| Zen and the Art of Japanese Packaging |
| By Stuart Hoggard | |
| 07 July 2007 | |
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JAPAN - Less is more. An often abused statement in the art world, a Zen mantra in which a subtle hint or brushstroke translates to a host of abuses in the west (a small amount of food however artistically presented on the plate called Nouvelle Cuisine remains just that, an expensive mouthful which wouldn’t feed a budgie leaving you bursting for a burger). But in the home of Zen, Japan, the art of packaging is serious business and deeply rooted in the culture. Japan’s packaging industry has been dominated in past years by the need to comply with the ever changing Container and Packaging Recycling Law. Visiting Tokyo Pack in October, on behalf of PIP and Sayers Publishing, I was asked to try to determine “how much do consumers care about these environmental measures, and do the manufacturers use it as a selling point?”The short answer to both is: “Yes” and “Yes” To penetrate the consumer consciousness in a country as impenetrable as Japan, means attempting something approaching a cultural understanding of Japanese society.  In the course of a week in Tokyo I rarely missed an opportunity to ask the question, not just of the Industry (their response would be bias after all) but of just about every non-industry related Japanese person I came in contact with: hoteliers, waitresses, bankers, the guy at the bar. The answers were unanimous; consumers do care and the brand owner who ignores the market sentiment does so at their peril. Japan, like most of Asia, is based on a very hierarchal formal system of ‘respect’: for elders, for seniors, parents, authority, the customer etc. Like most of Asia, Japan is a ‘gift-giving’ culture, with very strict rules as to the type of gift given, to whom, and the occasion (eg: At New Year in China, unmarried children are given ‘ang pao’, red packets containing money, by their married elders, parents, grandparents, neighbours etc – even unmarried children in their 40s will receive these, after marriage, nada! Of course, a wedding gift will also come in the form of a red packet, rather than a present of, as is more common in the west, an ironing board or some such artefact). 
The Japanese, however, have elevated the Asian cultural ‘gift-giving’ process to an elaborate fine art, and like most things in Japan, it has become ritual: The Japanese tea ceremony, while similar to the Chinese version, contains nuances, subtle gestures each of which contain a clear meaning. Compare that to the average British mum serving guests a cuppa, where the only ritual is whether the milk goes in the cup first or last.Extend that through many other aspects of Japanese society; the way people greet each other by bowing, an elaborate ritual in itself (though after many trips to Japan I still find it quite odd to see a receptionist in a hotel answer the phone bobbing up and down, literally bowing to the caller throughout the conversation, makes me feel like whispering “He can’t actually see you, you know!”). But look further, at Japanese art, flower arranging, furniture, architecture, and everywhere there is a visual elegance underpinning the core function. What has that to do with packaging? Everything! Today Japan is a wealthy modern industrial society, but it wasn’t always so. In the ‘old days’ people couldn’t afford expensive gifts and so relied on elaborate wrapping, or packaging, to signify their ‘respect’ for the recipient – the more elaborate the packaging the more ‘respectful’ the giver is being. Eventually the package is appreciated for itself; it becomes the gift! Despite the modern high-rise freeway speed of life in industrial Japan the package still retains its semi-ritualistic impact, as a result consumers are acutely aware of the package, as an artefact in itself, even the supermarket product, unlike many of their western counterparts for whom the package is often just a container.  This cultural awareness drives consumer shelf-attention, a visit to any Tokyo supermarket is a revelation. Certainly the brash ‘buy me!’ product packages are also there, but the majority of shelf-space is occupied by elegant pack formats which are aimed at the consumer’s underlying sensitivity. Japan’s recycling laws do have their part to play - the use of coloured PET bottles is banned. Brand owners must look to other innovative methods of differentiating themselves in the market; labels, to some extent, can perform the job, but it takes a creative brand owner to step outside the standard 250ml mineral water bottle to create a new shape to give a premium cut-crystal glass effect (see photo) as shelf-differentiation – so effective was it that I actually had to pick it up to confirm it was PET, then I bought it (a rare feat for someone who rarely lets a drop of that liquid pass his lips, unless in heavily diluted form!). Disposing Having an awareness of the package at point of purchase, the consumer is also aware of the disposal of the package – again the concept of ‘respect’ for the environment is still very close to the surface of consumer culture in every-day city life – Cherry Blossom Day is still a public holiday, where workers for more than a century were given the day off to appreciate the cherry blossoms!  As a result, the introduction of Japan’s (typically) elaborate packaging regulations, met with little resistance, in fact consumers universally welcomed them even though they now have up to five separate rubbish containers in their small kitchens (for glass, paper, PET, plastics, metal etc). Absolutely everyone appreciates and supports the logic of the environmental protection measures, however the reality is often difficult to deal with in small Japanese kitchens. As a response the Japanese packaging industry is focussing on CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) as a key theme, where packages are increasingly informative, adding directions as to how they are to be collapsed and compacted to fit in the consumer’s disposal kitchen trash bin. These directions often take up the whole of one of the package’s face and, since they are not mandated by law, serve as more than simply directions but are clearly a brand owner’s ‘selling tool’. Tokyo Pack Armed with this uniquely Japanese perspective of packaging the Tokyo Pack Exhibition was less of a culture shock than it might otherwise have been. Owned and operated by the Japan Institute of Packaging, the bi-annual Tokyo Pack, is aptly held at the Big Sight exhibition centre, on a reclaimed island in the middle of Tokyo bay, which once served as the city’s landfill. As the third largest packaging exhibition in the world, after Düsseldorf’s Interpack and PackExpo in the US (arguably, Milan’s Pack Ima could take third slot) Tokyo Pack is certainly the largest exhibition in Asia. Unlike the other exhibitions which are predominantly equipment shows, Tokyo is predominantly a package manufacturer’s exhibition, and while there is a fair representation of ‘heavy metal’ on the exhibition floor, it is the package itself which takes pride of place. It is a formula which works well in the Japanese context (whether it would be a sufficient ‘draw’ in the west, I doubt). Across the five days, this year’s Tokyo Pack saw a total registration of 203,275 (as opposed to visitor numbers, which certain exhibitions use as a yardstick – in Tokyo there are no ticket turn-styles which register every visitor as they pass through – a 5-day pass gets you registered as five separate visits to the turn-style!) With the emphasis on the package, the visitor profile has a high brand-owner representation who turn out to see the latest in what the industry can offer. |
- Sustainability
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