Mitosaya was originally a medicinal herb garden, but perhaps because it was not a place where anyone lived, nor a business like a factory, garbage collection did not take place.
Although we try to reduce waste and reuse as much as possible, some waste still ends up being produced. We load the accumulated waste into a van and take it to a town-run environmental center, a processing facility, about once every two months. When we arrive, the car is first weighed at reception. There are designated areas for each type of waste within the center, and we drive around and throw it away in each area ourselves. On the way back, we weigh the car again and pay for the amount we threw away. However, recyclable items such as paper, plastic bottles, glass bottles, and aluminum cans are free to throw away.
You might think that recycling is okay, but when you see the process of sorting, crushing, and having a processor take over, it's not that simple. Looking at the glass bottles piled high by color, I always wonder if it's really necessary for me to make things that can be thrown away here.
The first thing I thought about the mitosaya bottles was that I wanted them to be reusable. Initially, I thought it would be good to use returnable bottles (reusable bottles). These are reusable bottles used for beer, sake, shochu, etc., such as glass milk bottles. Reusing the same bottles across companies is both old and new. I feel like I can focus on other things because I don't pay attention to the shape.
When I asked an organization called the Glass Bottle 3R Promotion Council where I could buy returnable bottles, I was told that in order to use returnable bottles, a company needs to collect them in-house and also have a system in place for cleaning and reusing them, so it's not as simple as just buying a bottle.
So, is it possible to use other glass bottles? Most glass bottles are collected and crushed into something called cullet. The cullet is added to silica sand (sea sand) or limestone, and melted under heat to make new bottles. Almost 100% of new bottles are made from cullet. The very existence of glass bottles provides a mechanism for recycling.
I thought that this might be a good idea, so I started looking for products from bottle companies. Most bottle companies have product catalogs available online, but they are just ordinary. Why is there so little variation in products when there are so many bottles in the world?
There was one company whose catalog I couldn't view in my environment, so I contacted them. The company's name was a little strange.
A few days later, a reply came from a bottle manufacturer called Nippon Acid-Resistant Bottle Industry Co., Ltd. in Gifu Prefecture.
Currently, we are developing the design of a bottle for distilled spirits.
Just the other day, I drew up a design using Monkey47 and a Stilemühle bottle as reference points as a basis for my design.
When I looked at your website, I saw that you produce distilled spirits and also that you trained at Stieremühle, so I would like to receive some ideas from you for the design development.
What a coincidence. What timing. It was a godsend, and we were able to have a meeting just as he was coming to Tokyo.
Mr. Asano, who was in charge, gave us a lecture since we knew nothing about bottles.
● A mold needs to be made to make a new bottle. Since the factory uses a set of more than 10 molds at a time, the cost of making a mold for a new bottle can range from several million to 10 million yen.
● The furnaces are always running in the factory, so once they are running, they need to keep making for at least one day. Therefore, the minimum lot size is tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of pieces.
● Most commercially available beverage and alcohol bottles have an original shape called a "tomegata" (fixed stopper), so even if you find one you like, it is difficult for other companies to use it.
● The bottle production lines are divided into different glass materials, so it is difficult to use other colors. The only color available this time is transparent. The amber color line, which is mainly used to manufacture bottles for health drinks, has a large production volume.
I understood how difficult it would be to create something original. But then Asano said:
"This time, we will cover the costs of molds and other expenses for new production, so why not create something original together? It would be fine as long as you purchase a certain minimum lot. However, we will also sell the finished product to the general public."
This is an ideal proposal for us to be able to make the shape we want without having to pay too much for the quantity. The fact that it will be released to the public is also a good opportunity for it to spread.
Thus began the bottle making process, but the hard part began next.
First of all, we will submit a design proposal. There are things that we like, but it is difficult to give them form. The mitosaya team discusses this and that. When I wanted some kind of trigger, I remembered a miniature acid-resistant bottle that was covered in dust at the back of a glass shelf during the meeting.
The acid-resistant bottle, which gave the company name Nippon San-Tai Bottle Kogyo, is a glass bottle made by taking advantage of the special properties of glass that are resistant to acid. In the early Showa period, they were mainly made to hold acetic acid, and were placed in wicker baskets to prevent breakage. Today, they are no longer made, as their role has been taken over by plastic containers and tank trucks. Drawing from the chunky, round shape of the acid-resistant bottle, we came up with two types: round and square. The capacity is 350ml. The chunky, chunky shape is humorous. It is also interesting that it is somewhat similar to the glass containers called bonbonnes that we use in mitosaya's cellar.
Based on those lines, Asano-san made a drawing of what would go on the production line. When he saw the drawing, which looked almost like the real thing, he got excited as if it was already finished.
However, when I saw the 3D model of this, I was a little worried. I carved a styrene board and made one myself, and then I understood.
This is hard to hold.
It's fine to just place it and look at it, but if you think about filling it with liquid and having to hold it in one hand to pour it, it's too thick.
However, if you make this thinner and stretch it vertically, it ends up taking on a shape that you've seen somewhere before.
So I decided to abandon the round shape for the time being and think only about square shapes. I was tempted to lean on stories like acid-resistant bottles and compliance bottles, but I decided to pursue a shape that I simply liked. I devised ways to round off the corners, curve the shoulders, and length the mouth so that the contents would look more attractive, like a perfume bottle.
The result was this shape. The capacity was also set at 500ml. The intention was to clearly distinguish between large and small by providing a 100ml size separately.
After this, we made the actual sample. It is possible to make it with a 3D printer, but if it is not transparent, the image will be misconstrued, so we had it made out of glass.
Another key point is the combination with a glass stopper made in the Czech Republic called Vinolok. Normally, Vinolok must be used in combination with a special bottle, but with this mold, it is possible to use it. However, the inside of the bottle does not have a mold, and the shape of the inside is controlled by adjusting the strength of the air blown in and the cooling rate.
The first sample did not fit the stopper properly, so after some fine-tuning, we had them make it again.
And today, production began.
Work has already begun at the Nippon Acid-Resistant Bottle Manufacturing Co., Ltd. factory in the suburbs of Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture. The temperature in the furnaces reaches 1,700 degrees, making it extremely hot inside the factory, and the noise of the machines makes it difficult to even talk.
The bright red liquid glass that comes out of the furnace, like tteokbokki, is sent to the line at a speed that is too fast to see. After a molding process called blow and blow, lines are drawn repeatedly, two at a time, from eight lines, and the square bottles that were tested on styrene boards come out.
As the bright red bottles travel down the conveyor belt, their orange color fades away and they turn clear. It's like magic.
After this, the temperature is adjusted to prevent distortion while cooling, and the product is then coated, inspected, and shipped.
I looked back at my emails and realized that this project has taken me over a year. Next up is the labels and boxes.
Originally a medicinal plant garden, mitosaya was not a place where anyone lived, or perhaps because it was not a factory-like business, the garbage collection did not come.
Although we try to avoid producing garbage and reuse as much as possible, we still produce garbage. We have to load the accumulated trash into a van and take it to the town's environmental center, a processing facility, about once every two months. The first thing we do when we arrive is to weigh the van at the reception desk. Each type of trash is assigned a specific location in the facility, and you drive around and dump it at each location by yourself. On the way back, you weigh your car again and pay for the amount of garbage you threw away. However, recyclable items such as paper, plastic bottles, glass bottles and aluminum cans are free of charge.
However, when I saw the process of sorting, crushing, and taking them to the disposal company, I realized that it is not that simple. As I look at the glass bottles piled high, sorted by color, I always wonder if it is really necessary to make something that I can throw away here.
The first thing I thought about with the mitosaya bottles was that I wanted to make them reusable. At first, I thought it would be great if we could use returnable bottles (reusable bottles). These are the reusable bottles used for beer, sake, shochu, etc., as well as glass milk bottles. The idea of reusing the same bottle across different companies is both old and new. I feel that since we are not focusing on the form, we can focus on other things.
I contacted the Glass Bottle 3R Promotion Council to find out where I could buy returnable bottles, and they told me that in order to use returnable bottles, you need to collect them yourself and have a system for cleaning and reusing them.
After the bottles are collected, most of them are crushed and turned into something called cullet. The cullet is added to petrified sand (sea sand) or limestone, and then heated and melted to make new bottles. The percentage of cullet used in newly made bottles is almost 100%. The existence of glass bottles itself has a recycling mechanism.
I started to look for products from bottle companies, thinking that might be a good idea. Most of the bottle companies have online catalogs of their products, but they are quite ordinary. I wondered why there were so many bottles in the world, but no variation when it came to products.
There was one company whose catalog was not available in my environment, so I contacted them. The name of the company was also a bit unusual.
A few days later, I received a reply from a bottle manufacturer in Gifu Prefecture called Nihon taisanbin glass bottle mfg co. ltd.
"We are currently working on the design and development of bottles for distilled spirits.
Just the other day, we drew a drawing using Monkey47 and Stählemühle bottles as a basis for our design.
I read on your website that you make spirits and that you trained at Stählemühle, so I was wondering if you could give me some ideas for my design development.
What a coincidence. What timing! We decided to have a meeting just as he was coming to Tokyo.
Mr. Asano, who was in charge of the project, gave us a lecture on bottles as we knew nothing about them.
To make a new bottle, you need to make a mold. To make a new bottle, you need to make a mold. The factory sets up and uses more than ten molds at a time, so the cost of a mold for a new bottle is several million to ten million yen.
The factory is always running the furnace, so once it is running, it needs to continue making for at least a day. Therefore, the minimum lot size is tens to hundreds of thousands of units.
Most of the beverage and liquor bottles on the market are made using original molds called "tome-gata", and it is difficult for other companies to use these molds even if they like them.
It is difficult for other companies to use other colors because the bottle production line is divided by glass material. It is difficult to use other colors. The amber color line, which is mainly used to manufacture bottles for health drinks, has a large production volume.
He understood the tremendous hurdle of making the original. However, after this, Mr. Asano said.
After this, however, Mr. Asano said, "We'll pay for the cost of molds for new production, so why don't we make the original together? If you purchase a certain amount of the minimum lot, you will be fine. However, we will sell the finished product to the public. He said.
For us, this was an unexpected proposal, as we could make any shape we wanted and not have to pay so much in quantity. The fact that it would be sold to the general public was also a good opportunity to spread the word.
The bottle making process began in this way, but the hard part was just beginning.
First, we had to come up with a design idea. The mitosaya team had a lot of discussions about this and that. I remembered a miniature acid-resistant bottle that had been sitting in the back of the glass cabinet, gathering dust, when we had a meeting.
Acid-resistant bottles, from which the company name Japan Acid-Resistant Bottle Industry is derived, are literally glass bottles made using the special properties of acid-resistant glass. In the early Showa period (1926-1989), acid-resistant bottles were mainly made to hold acetic acid, and were placed in wicker baskets to prevent damage. These bottles are no longer made, their role having been replaced by polyethylene tanks and tank lorries. Drawing a line from the stocky round shape of acid-resistant bottles, I came up with two types: round and square. They have a capacity of 350 ml, and are humorous in their stocky and chunky shape. It is also interesting that it somewhat resembles the glass containers called "bonbonne" that we use in the mitosaya cellar.
Based on these lines, Mr. Asano made a drawing that would fit on the production line. Looking at the drawing, we were excited as if it was already done.
However, when I saw the 3D modeling of this, I felt a little uneasy. When I tried to make it myself by cutting a styrene board, I understood.
It's hard to hold.
It's fine to put it on the table and look at it, but if you think about holding it with one hand to pour liquid into it, it's too thick.
But if you make it thinner and stretch it vertically, it will look like something you have seen somewhere.
So I decided to abandon the round shape and use only the square shape. I was tempted to lean towards stories like acid-resistant bottles and compostable bottles, but I decided to go for a shape that I genuinely liked. Like a perfume bottle, I tried to make the bottle look more attractive by dropping the corners, the curve of the shoulders, and the length of the mouth.
This is the shape I came up with. I also made the capacity 500ml. The intention was to have a separate 100ml size to make the large and small sizes clear.
The next step was to make the actual sample, which could be made with a 3D printer, but we were told that it would be misleading if it wasn't transparent, so we had it made with glass.
The combination with Vinolok, a glass stopper made in the Czech Republic, was also a key point of this project, and while Vinolok is usually required to be used with a special bottle, this mold could be used with it. However, there is no mold for the inside of the bottle, and the shape of the inside is controlled by adjusting the strength of the air blowing in and the degree of cooling.
The first sample didn't fit well with the stopper, so after some minor adjustments, they had it made again.
The first sample did not match well with the stopper, so after fine tuning, they had it made again.
Work had already begun at the plant of Nippon Acidproof Bottle Industry, located in the suburbs of Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture. It was extremely hot inside the factory, where the furnace temperature reached 1,700 degrees Celsius, and the noise of the machines made it impossible to talk.
The red, liquefied glass like tteokbokki that came out of the furnace was being sent down the line at an unbelievable speed. After a molding process called "blow and blow," the square bottles that had been repeatedly drawn and shaped on styrene boards came out from each of the eight lines, two at a time.
By the time the bright red bottles were sent down the conveyor, the orange color had faded and they were transparent. It was like magic.
After this, the bottles are cooled while the temperature is adjusted to prevent distortion, then coated, inspected, and shipped.
After reviewing my e-mails, I realized that this project has taken over a year to complete. Next up are the labels and boxes.
