Nikka Whisky Sign
Illuminated corner billboard of a bearded whisky blender, redrawn five times since nineteen sixty-nine but never replaced.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Nikka Whisky Sign in Sapporo's Susukino district opens with a puzzle: five different signs have hung on this corner since 1969, yet the bearded face on all of them has never once changed. It traces that face back to 1959, to a Hokkaido design studio, and to William Lowrey, a British master blender the character was modeled on despite never working for this brand. You'll hear how the portrait was repainted in 1986, 2002 and 2013, and how this spring's anniversary rebuild had the whole corner wrapped in paper for three weeks. Look up at the beard, the glass and the barley, unchanged through every version.
This audio guide was created using AI.