Nukazuke is a Japanese pickle produced by fermenting vegetables in rice bran. Nukazuke is an heatlhy food process that is hundreds of years old. The lactobacillus colony that proliferates in the nukadoko (the rice bran bed) transforms the vegetables into pickles. The lactobacillus culture must be healthy to ensure that the fermentation works. Preparing Nukazuke requires constant effort and care, experience, and knowledge.

The HACKO project exlplore the potential of distributed design and digital fabrication to make nukazuke a more accessible, adaptable, and reproducible process in different cultures and countries. The designer developed an open-source kit to produce nukazuke from ordinary plastic boxes by using the following elements: a set of small trays designed to regulate the drainage of liquids from the nukadoko, a multi-purpose tool that can support the handling and maintenance of the nukadoko, and a digital device that can monitor the humidity and temperature parameters needed to maintain the ideal conditions for fermentation.