nendo designs bottle for N sake produced by ex-soccer player

nendo designs bottle for N sake produced by hidetoshi nakata, former player on japan’s national soccer teamall photos by hiroshi iwasaka

former star of japan’s national soccer team nakata hidetoshi is producing sake by the name of ‘N’, made by sake brewery takagi shuzo. the fermented beverage is made from a combination of yamadanishiki and aiyama rice varieties, each grain polished down to 35%, making it a sake of high quality. produced in a limited edition of 900 bottles, nakata wanted to package the traditional japanese spirit in a vessel which was unique and expressed the beauty of the east asian culture. he invited nendo to draft the bottle’s form with a few requirements in mind: that the shape of the container be different from the conventional form of a sake bottle, and that the contents be protected from ultraviolet rays. the outcome is a matte black cylinder which looks like a stick of charcoal, with the most subtle dimples sculpted into its body so that it sits well in one’s hands when being poured. a cap made from spun aluminium is where the labels are kept, keeping the appearance as minimal as possible.

detail of the ‘N’ bottle designed by nendo

the only label is found on the aluminium spun cap, keeping the appearance of the vessel clean and simple

box packaging

‘N’ bottle

concept sketch