The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2024–2026
Shiseido canned a dying island miso to make it last past 2055
When Ogi Miso's makers were aging out, Shiseido canned the miso with 'BEST AFTER 2055' on the lid so the tradition survives its last maker.
Shiseido Company
the move
Ogi Miso was a handmade local miso with a familiar home flavor, long eaten on the small island of Ogi in western Japan. But as the island aged and its population declined, the practice was at risk of disappearing with its last masters.
Shiseido encountered the island through the Setouchi Triennale art festival. Rather than produce a documentary or a museum digitization, it developed the Ogi Miso Can: a real canned miso, made with island residents, carrying the message that 'this may be the last Ogi Miso.'
The stamped date 'BEST AFTER 2055' echoed the canning language of food, but pointed at the projected year the tradition itself could vanish. It turned preservation into an experience-based design object rather than a record.
The project won the Grand Prix in Design at Spikes Asia 2026, was shortlisted in Brand Experience & Activation and Product Design, and later took Bronze at The One Show 2026.
why it works
- A canned object is tangible and consumable, not a distant archive
- The 'best after' date made the cultural deadline concrete and urgent
- Co-making with island residents kept preservation in the community's hands
- It reframed preservation as an experience, not a museum record
what transfers
To save a fragile tradition, don't document it — turn it into a physical object people can hold and consume, and stamp the deadline on it.
what came after
The project earned a Grand Prix in Design at Spikes Asia 2026 and a Bronze at The One Show 2026, and was shortlisted in further categories. It became a model for treating endangered food culture as design material rather than heritage documentation.
references
- Shiseido Wins Two Awards, Including Grand Prix, at Spikes Asia 2026
- Shiseido Wins Bronze at The One Show 2026
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