Yakult after the revolution

Yakult bottle poster, red halftone design with “after the revolution” text on white background, branding art

This zine, created as a collaboration between the artists Dri Chiu Tattersfield and Ames Ma, explores a playful intersection of Asian American nostalgia and critique of supply chain capitalism through the lens of the iconic drink, Yakult. While the majority of Yakult is sold in Japan, where it originates, manufacturing and distribution currently happens in countries around the globe where the cost of labor is much lower and less regulated. We felt kinship with a similar winding journey presented in Anna Tsing’s The Mushroom at the End of the World, which follows the matsutake mushroom’s journey from disturbed forests in Oregon to supermarkets in Japan, revealing portals to alternate futures the matsutake leaves in its wake. We wondered, what can we learn from the multinational networks that brought these little red bottles to us?

-From the artist