Japanese history, culture and heritage have provided a rich vein of continuity products for Japan — products that usually work best when they span both male and female targets.
Interest in Japanese swords has been predominantly male. However, in 2017, we became aware that interest amongst women had increased — mainly due to the video game Touken Ranbu, which launched in Japan in 2015 and involves characters using historical Japanese swords in animated combat. Quantitative and qualitative research confirmed our belief that the addition of this female target audience made a concept that included both the historical and popular cultural aspects of Japanese swords viable.
In making this product come to life, we developed a way to scan the entire blade of the sword that was depicted in a spread in the centre of the product. This life-size fold-out showed the sword in brilliant detail in a way that was previously not possible.
KD Content created the product and licensed it to a Japanese publishing company, which successfully tested and launched it in 2019.
