A Festival of Japanese Soft Power:
Hyper Japan Festival 2024
Last month, our Midweight Creative Designer, Declan, and our Senior Creative Strategist, Kay, visited the Hyper Japan Festival at Kensington Olympia. Celebrating its 20th year, this festival is a visceral showcase of Japanese soft power and fandom, featuring the latest in Japanese culture, arts, food and drink in an immersive matsuri (festival) atmosphere. The massive venue was packed with enthusiastic exhibitors: brands, content creators, makers, artists, performers, workshops, pop-ups, vendors and public organisations from Japan, the UK and Europe, all sharing a common passion.
Sake and Shochu Innovation from Japan and London
Naturally, our first stop was the drinks exhibitors. The sake and shochu scene is rapidly growing outside Japan. For many enthusiasts, the interest lies in the terroir and provenance of sake, much like wine in Europe. The participating sake breweries at the Hyper Sake Street tasting event came from across Japan. Among them was Heavensake, a collaboration between prominent Japanese sake brewers and an award-winning French chef de cave, creating distinctive sake blends.
The trend for spritzes, carbonation and refreshing fruity flavours is prevalent in both sake and shochu. This trend may have originated in Japan, given the number of brands offering canned shochu (and whisky) highballs, popular in Japan for decades. At the Suntory stand, we sampled – 196, a shochu + vodka soda available in lemon and grapefruit flavours. Recently launched in the UK, the drink features visuals with a manga aesthetic, appealing to J-pop culture fans. The name represents an innovative ingredient: whole citrus fruits frozen to minus 196 degrees celsius and pulverised, imparting vibrant flavours beyond just juice.
We also sampled Takara Shuzo’s MIO, a low-alcohol sparkling sake. It blends high-quality rice sake and rice koji with added carbonation for a mild, fruity, and refreshing taste. The packaging resembles sparkling wine, indicating the brand’s premium positioning.
London-based drinks brand Shima specialises in making sake approachable for Western tastes with Shima Spritzers, whilst sharing a curiosity for Japanese culture on the website. Another London-based company, Umeshuya London, specialises in umeshu (plum wine) blending, collaborating with traditional Japanese sake breweries to develop unique blends. Their beautiful labels feature stylish contemporary illustrations of Japanese themes, bringing artisanal products to the UK with authentic and modern creative design sensibilities.
Japanese Household Brands as Global Favorites
Beyond drinks, exhibitors of Japan’s favourite brands were not to be missed. Meiji and Calbee featured prominently, offering a range of snacks. It’s rare to taste every flavour of the Hello Panda snack range! Iconic Japanese mayonnaise brand Kewpie showcased its use in Japanese recipes like tuna mayo onigiri (rice ball). The umami flavor of Kewpie complements Japanese dishes perfectly. Since 1925, Kewpie represents a Western-influenced Japanese cuisine that Japan has made its own and exported back to the West.
Sanrio celebrated Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary, paying tribute to the beloved character. Although not as old as Barbie at 65, Hello Kitty remains the grand dame of kawaii (cute).
Cross-Pollination of Ideas
Traditional Japanese arts and crafts, such as kimono, ceramics, and lacquerware, were represented alongside workshops on bonsai, ikebana, and calligraphy. However, Hyper Japan is increasingly about the cross-pollination of culture and ideas. The fascination and exchange of culture and technology between Japan and the West have continued for centuries, evolving through importing, adapting, innovating, and re-exporting each other’s know-how. Festivals like this bring the exchange to life in a concentrated dose.
In the food court, standout companies included Wa, a London-based Japanese patisserie offering Japanese-European influenced baked goods, Sugoi Fusion, known for the NoriTaco, and Marugame Udon, a Japanese udon restaurant chain now in London via the US, serving the Shake-up Udon Salad, a cold udon salad in a frappe cup.
J-pop culture was a vivid example of this exchange. Cosplay fans gathered around designers and artists from the UK, Europe, and Japan promoting character and kawaii apparel, accessories, and art. There was even a maid café by Maids of England, blending English and Japanese maid café culture. Anime and gaming featured prominently through content hubs like Bushi Road and Virtual Remix Japan. There was no getting away from One Piece and Dragon Ball and Evangelion characters and their fans.
As a creative agency, specialising in the drinks industry and working with global Japanese spirits brands, we have always been fascinated by Japan and its culture. If you’re looking for a brand specialist or to find out what marketing opportunities there are to help grow your Japanese or Japanese-inspired drinks brand, get in touch below: