Snack Nation: Georgia Sengoku canned coffee

The Sengoku ('Warring states') period of the 15th to 17th centuries was a bloody, awful time for Japan. But in the 21st century we are free to filter out the bad parts and turn these bad-ass samurai generals into commercial brand ambassadors. First, we got Rogin's "samurai underwear" modeled after the armor of Japan's most famous warlords. Now canned coffee brand Georgia is getting in on the historical action with a new "Sengoku Jidai no Busho" (generals of the warring states period) collection.

The series of ten cans features fanciful illustrations of Japan's top samurai from the Sengoku era. Ieyasu Tokugawa, Nobunaga Oda, Masamune Date and eight others are here to inspire you during your morning coffee break.

The illustrators decided to draw the former warlords at their handsome youthful peak, rather than their overweight later years. Although the intention was good, this does unfortunately make them look like rejected characters from Mortal Combat.

The beverage itself seems to be Georgia's normal brew: straight-up brown coffee with heaps of sugar and milk. You'd think that these stoic samurai leaders would demand their coffee black and stiff, but Georgia must be targeting the sweet-tooth "rekijo" female crowd, who prefer these highly beautified images of dead warriors to today's more effeminate and non-homicidal males.

It is slightly disappointing that each can in the series does not have a distinct flavor. Georgia could have had fun creating a one-eyed Northern formula for Date and a wine-inspired seppuku taste for Oda. But alas, their imaginative tinkerings were limited to the presentation. Maybe this is the flavor of Yamato-damashii.

Georgia Sengoku Jidai no Busho canned coffee, ¥120 each