Images

3. Thanksgiving The third concept embodied in Japanese packaging is the feeling of gratitude. Offerings are given to the guardian in gratitude for nature's bounty throughout the year. At the same time, prayers are given in hope for good harvest the following year. This annual rite of thanksgiving helped develop packaging. Festive expression is translated into double-dickered rice cakes made from freshly harvested rice which are decorated with the fruits of the sea and fields, symbolic of nature's gifts. Rice wine is packaged in a wooden keg wrapped with rush-mat and offered to the guardian gods in a shrine. The feeling of celebration is represented in the lacquered two-handled keg containing rice wine. Sweet bean cakes dyed red and white, the festive colors in Japan, are placed in a natural-white wooden box symbolizing purity. Noshi, a decorative gift envelope, symbolizes gratitude and celebration. The package is sealed with elaborately tied decorative strings. It is believed that evil spirits will trip on the strings and prevent them from entering inside. Thus the good spirits enclosed within will remain safe. A wide variety of New Year food is placed in a layered lacquered box in celebration of the coming year. Japanese housewives are liberated from all housework and cooking on the first three days of January. That's the only time there is peace in the household. Lacquered food boxes are used in the family for three generations. It's an elegant container for food. The Girl's Day Festival in March. This is a festival to pray for the daughter's good health. The food for the celebration is beautifully packaged and displayed. The festival dolls themselves are packaged in beautiful kimonos. If you pray for one, you've got to pray for the other. So, there's a Boy's Day Festival in May. This festival is held in the hope that the son may grow up to be a healthy, strong man. For this occasion, rice cake is wrapped in bamboo grass and steamed. Bamboo grass has a strong texture, gives off a pleasant aroma and looks vibrant. The Shichigosan in November is a festival for children aged 3, 5 and 7. Red bean rice is prepared for the occasion. The black lacquered container enhances the taste of the food. If seasonal packaging wraps the gifts and offerings on a temporal scale, travel souvenirs contain the gift-giving spirit on a spatial scale. In every part of Japan, there are packaged souvenirs containing local specialties. These souvenirs are rarely bought and eaten by the locals but are geared strictly for tourists. Even today when you ride the bullet train in Japan, you will come across an amusing scene. As the train whizzes past a station, a girl comes down the aisle to sell packaged food unique to that region, despite the fact that the super express train doesn't stop there. Which makes me wonder where they load the food on board! Baked clams, attractively packaged in a bamboo basket as a souvenir. Rice cakes wrapped in straw sandals humorously convey the idea of a journey. Straw sandals is reminiscent of the countryside. Here, the steam basket itself for making rice cakes becomes a package. As we have seen so far, packaging is a system for linking food production with consumers. At the same time, package itself is a medium with a firm existence. Beautiful package is born when the expression of the package and the spirit embodied within coincide and take on the shape most suitable for the situation in which it is used. For instance, even money can be attractively packaged. The spirit of traditional Japanese packaging rests in nature. In it existed the age-old wisdom but more importantly, the love of life. Then, what kind of packaging will appear on the scene in the future? So long as symbolic representation is perpetually generalized in a certain age, the key to designing packages is to seek the new spirit of universality in the everchanging society. Advanced technology has developed the properties of package material to a remarkable degree, and the information society strongly conveys the messages hidden in the package. Food package should offer a more rational and aesthetic system for daily living. What is demanded of package today is spiritual satisfaction. Think Visually, Act Graphically!