ブランドを格上げする、体験づくり。

Nanbu Bijin is a sake brewery that was founded in 1902 in Ninohe City, Iwate Prefecture. The brewery began as an offshoot of a soy sauce brewing business, and originally used water both from its own private well and from a wellspring on the grounds of a local shrine. In 1951, the brewery began hiring brewers from the Nanbu Toji guild and rechristened itself “Nanbu Bijin,” likening the crisp and dainty flavor of its sake to a beautiful woman—bijin, in Japanese.

In 2022, to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the brewery’s founding, Nanbu Bijin renovated one of its long-used warehouses with the goal of creating a new tourist attraction for the city of Ninohe and making new connections with customers. Here at Improvide, we started with the questions, “What kind of new connections should be made with customers?” and “What kind of place should this be for city residents beyond its role as a tourist attraction?” Around the same time, redevelopment was taking place in front of Ninohe Station, and this included removing a neon sign advertising Nanbu Bijin which had long been beloved by residents. We decided to preserve this sign and incorporated it into the design of the renovated warehouse.

We carried out a multi-faceted project that included conceptual development, renovation plan design, graphic design, a video explaining Nanbu Bijin’s sake-making process, and newspaper advertising announcing the new warehouse’s opening. With the catchphrase “Light Up, Once More” as its slogan, the warehouse has become a place absolutely brewing with new charms.