Sustainable craft gin supporting Hakuba Village forest preservation

Craft gin HAKUBA GIN was launched last month, which uses uses botanicals foraged from the forests of Hakuba Village in Nagano Prefecture. This gin is from the partnership between Ethical Spirits & Co. and Shinto Tsushin, and aimed to retain the memory of the current local environment through scent. A portion of the sales revenue supports nature conservation activities in the village to create a sustainable cycle between forest resources and environmental protection.

Hakuba is one of the places in Japan that is highly affected by climate change, and in this particular case, shifting forest conditions. By harvesting wild plants at specific times, the creators intend to preserve the changing landscape as a sensory record. The botanicals include local species such as Shishiudo, Nanakamado, and Kumazasa. All materials are collected under expert supervision at sites including the Goryu Alpine Botanical Garden. The harvesting methods ensure that the trees and the surrounding ecosystem remain unharmed.

Each label displays the date, geographical coordinates, and temperature at the time of foraging. The bottle features a double-sided printed photograph of the forest where the botanicals were sourced. This allows the consumer to view the forest landscape through the liquid. Furthermore, the project utilises wood from trees affected by oak wilt, a significant ecological issue in the region. This diseased timber is repurposed into book-shaped packaging that provides information about the botanicals and the conservation mission.

HAKUBA GIN originated from Green Work Hakuba, a project led by the Hakuba Village Tourism Commission. This initiative brings together local businesses and external partners to develop the future of the village through circular economy principles. Ethical Spirits & Co. joined the programme to apply its regenerative distilling approach to the local context. This method focuses on extracting value from unused or underutilised materials to promote a circular society.