nikaido shochu
Description
Since 1866, Nikaido has remained family-owned, the creators of the original Oita Mugi Shochu. Eight generations. One vision. No compromise.
We were tasked to create a brand strategy, identity, and corporate website to introduce this storied spirit to the United States.
What we did
Strategy
Brand Identity
Website
Logo mark
Print Collateral
Social Media
Client
Nikaido USA Co.
History
1866 — Nikaido Shuzo is founded in Hiji-Machi, Oita, as a nihonshu (sake) brewery. The family’s long relationship with fermentation, with koji, and with the craft begins.
1949 — Production shifts from nihonshu to shochu. Circumstances change, and with them, the direction of the company. Generations of koji expertise carry over.
1974 — Sixth-generation president Akira Nikaido is the first to bring barley koji shochu to market. With it comes a new kind of shochu. Cleaner. More balanced. Easier to drink.
1974 — Nikaido Oita Mugi Shochu launches. The first shochu made entirely from barley. Japan takes notice. Oita becomes synonymous with barley shochu…
1980s — Barley shochu was everywhere. Ginza clubs, neighborhood izakayas, living rooms across Japan. Oita became the center of barley shochu production. It started with Nikaido.
1995-2021 — Nikaido invests in television advertising for the first time, building recognition across Japan. The brand evolves. The shochu stays the same.
The Trip
We were invited to travel to Oita and across Japan to understand the culture surrounding shochu, observe how it is enjoyed in its homeland, and uncover the most authentic way to introduce it to a new audience.
Seeing the spirit being made—and the care and craftsmanship every employee brought to their work—was both inspiring and humbling.
The Concept
“The Inside World” is the concept at the heart of the Nikaido brand. Like passing through a noren curtain (暖簾) into an izakaya, Nikaido marks the transition from the cold, frantic pace of the outside world to a place of warmth and ease. It creates a calming buffer from the noise and bustle—a world within, where conversations flourish and nights unfold effortlessly. During our trip, we witnessed this phenomenon again and again in Japan’s largest cities, where people seek out intimate establishments to connect after work.
The Nikaido Kamon is comprised of three closed fans in a perfect circle. The closed fan represents “an approach that does not loudly proclaim command or power, but instead embodies the quiet maintenance of order and the exercise of judgment through restraint.”
The logotype and family kamon serve as the primary marks for the company and its products.
Brand colors draw from the heritage and deep ties to Oita Prefecture. Their hues and vibrancy reflect the natural elements essential to their shochu.
The typographic suite consists of Founders Grotesk and PP Editorial. Founders forms our proverbial noren curtain, a bold, structured typeface that blocks out exterior noise, creating the Inside World within. The light weight and conversational feel of PP Editorial New captures the warmth and ease of that Inside World.
Photography is honest and inviting. Rooted in a timeless sensibility of Kodachrome film, each image captures a sense of rest, intimacy, and depth.
The tone contributes to a sense of ease, relaxation, and quiet decompression, telling a warm, inviting story about Nikaido, their shochu, and theirs customers.
Whether composed or captured in situ, each photograph balances atmosphere with clarity. Candid moments place Nikaido within everyday life, while staged compositions bring the product into focus.
Fun times, lively conversation, and a moment to unwind and decompress—with a good drink and the people you want to be with. The lifestyle photography captures these moments with honesty and authenticity, whether it’s at an izakaya or at a friend’s house. A place of reprieve from the busy, hectic outside.
The people and places behind the shochu are fundamental to the Nikaido story. The team’s craftsmanship, the barley and water, the landscapes of Oita and Kyushu, and the company’s long history all shape its identity. Used selectively, this imagery offers a powerful expression of Nikaido’s process, product, heritage, and origins.
Application
These are a few examples of Nikaido out in the world—a bold visual identity in which vibrant color and confident typography frame moments of quiet warmth.
For swag, we take a more playful, straightforward approach. The language is utilitarian, speaking plainly about who we are and what we make.
In digital spaces, Nikaido remains bold and bright but still invites people into an intimate experience.
Application
We rebuilt the identity system from the ground up, developing a refined visual language, positioning strategy, typography, color system, and branded applications that better reflect the maturity, scale, and future direction of the company.
Shochu Compass
Shochu Compass is a Nikaido-led cultural and adoption program designed to make shochu a natural, go-to spirit for Western audiences. By increasing understanding, improving access, and building a network of partners who believe in its value, the program introduces people to shochu—its ingredients, process, and cultural significance—and keeps them connected through events, experiences, content, education, and partnerships.
We created a sub-brand for the initiative to coexists with the rest of the Nikaido identity.
Results
In 2026, we launched the new brand and website to coincide with the company’s 160th anniversary. At the same time, Nikaido secured several high-profile partnerships, including one with a Major League Baseball team, a collaboration with Red Bull, and new distribution deals. The brand materials were rolled out across activations, events, and conferences—including Tales of the Cocktail, to introduce this storied spirit to the American public.
