The Sankei West site reports on a special label for sake produced by a Himeji brewery – historical figure Kuroda Yoshitaka (aka Kuroda Kanbei) as imagined by legendary manga and anime artist Matsumoto Leiji.
The Tanaka brewery are using the label for their junmai daiginjo Shirasagi no Shiro (White Heron Castle, another name for Himeji Castle) released on 5 January 2018.
Matsumoto Leiji is an active supporter of areas affected by natural disaster, such as the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. One of his projects is “47 Generals of Sake”, depicting one Warring States figure from each of Japan’s 47 prefectures to be used on the label of a local sake. Matsumoto also has a strong following overseas, especially in France, which may prove useful when the sake is promoted abroad.
The Tanaka brewery was approached by Matsumoto in August 2017 and agreed to the idea. The brewery participated actively in the design process, including asking for Himeji Castle to be drawn in the background. An early version was very popular when displayed at an event in Singapore, and the brewery hopes that people unfamiliar with sake will give it a try.
Have a look at the original article linked below to see the illustration!
Links
- Original article (Japanese, Sankei West, 26 December 2017)
- Tanaka brewery on Harima sake tourism site (English)
- Kuroda Yoshitaka entry on Wikipedia (English)
- Leiji Matsumoto entry on Wikipedia (English)