SEKIMILK is a regional milk producer in Gifu Prefecture in central Japan. It produces fresh, wholesome milk for a variety of kinds of stores in the area, as well as schools. In the elementary schools, where milk plays an important role in providing for the children's everyday nutrition, the schools and SEKIMILK were noticing that a large percentage of the kids weren't finishing their daily bottles. So, the school system in the area, concerned about the kids' daily nutrition intake, asked SEKIMILK what they could do to have them finish their milk. The budget was minimal at best, and the coverage would be across the Prefecture affecting some 40 schools.

SEKIMILK is a local brand in GIFU prefecture in central Japan. As it produces milk in the same area where it's distributed, the company takes great care to ensure quality in its products. And it also has great concern about the community and the health of the kids in that area. Therefore, as they came to understand that the younger kids weren't getting all the nutrition they needed, they looked for a solution that would help. Japanese kids love for manga led to Milk Manga being that solution—a true win-win which brought as much happiness to the kids, and it did good health.

An additional piece of cultural context is that Japanese is traditionally read top to bottom. So having the manga printed on the bottle in this vertical style is natural for the Japanese kids to read.

Here's an example of the manga copy in white ink on one of the bottles, translated from Japanese. (Remember, this is for 9-year-olds.)

Butter: I'm butter! There's no way you're getting through me. Ha, ha ha.

Kids: You're so big and so hard to move. Arrrghh.

Butter: Oh, but I forgot I can't handle the heat.

Kids: Yay, he's melting. And he's so tasty! Haha.

The series of Milk Manga bottle illustrations are from the renowned Japanese manga artist Ami Kazei. Her strips are enjoyed by kids on a variety of online sites.

To create illustrations that would adhere, in the printing process, to glass bottles, she had to make her illustrations thicker lined and a degree simpler, while maintaining the charm and fun that kids loved.

When asked if it was difficult to illustrate for a milk bottle, she replied, "actually the cause of kids nutrition helped me focus and made it a natural conversation with the kids."

In Japan there is a strong feeling from residents in rural Japan, in places like Gifu Prefecture, that the health and living conditions of people in those areas isn't as important as those in Tokyo and the other large cities. This feeling tends to increase the local pride and bring about the desire to look after one another, which was certainly the case here with SEKIMILK looking after the children in Gifu.

One more additional piece of cultural context is that Japanese is traditionally read top to bottom. So having the manga printed on the bottle in this vertical style is natural for the Japanese kids to read.