The Story of Seikosha i.e. the "House of Exquisite Workmanship"

19th century swinging clock

I spend a substantial amount of time studying maps and seeking out scenic sights for us to visit on our weekends so it was a pleasant surprise when, without any fanfare, the Seiko Museum showed up on my radar one day. Better still, it turned out to be almost in our back yard. I was startled that Seiko had established their museum in a nearby, nondescript neighbourhood in Sumida ward but whatever the reason was for their decision, it was positive for us, as it meant that we were only a thirty-minute bicycle ride from its doors.

The Seiko Museum has an impressive collection of early timepieces. Some of the pieces had interesting forms (see the 16th century English sun dial to the left), others were beautifully crafted (see the early 19th century pocket-timepiece to the right), or served as a teaching tool (see early 17th century model of Shumi-sen below, the sacred mountain for Buddhists which they believed at the time to be the figurative centre of the universe). Additionally, there were a number of very large upright clocks from various countries and even a model replica of the Big Ben inner workings.

The museum allows photography of all of its exhibits except for this one model (the photograph below left is one of a postcard I bought from the gift shop), I had never seen one before and it piqued my curiosity. I was told it was used to defend the Buddhist belief of geocentrism after the emergence of the new Copernican theory led to attempts to discredit this belief, and by proxy, the Buddhism way of thinking as a whole. A little research later and I unearthed the fact that Shumi-sen is alternatively known as Sumeru (Mount Meru) and is a sacred mountain in Hindhu and Jain cosmology also. Can you see the hourglass shape on top of the table which represents the mountain?

I liked how the museum built on the development of time-keeping devices throughout the ages to place its own products in historical context. The first wristwatch, called the "Laurel" was produced in Japan in 1913 but the Seiko story began considerably earlier than that. It is a fabulous story of hard work and persistance by a man with a remarkable character.

Kintaro Hattori was born in Kyobashi, Tokyo (which is near Ginza) in 1860 and was apprenticed out at the tender age of eleven. He spotted a niche in the market and established his first shop for selling and repairing clocks when he was 21 years old. He first began buying imported clocks from the foreign trading houses in Yokohama before he went on to open his own clock and watch factory.

It took fifteen years before his watch line of business turned a profit but he was determined to produce accurate and high-quality watches and did not give up. The introduction of automated machinery (see right) in 1910 helped move him out of the red and his foresight to stockpile materials prior to World War One consolidated his position when shortages hampered his rivals' activities.

When I found out that the Ginza Wako building (see picture upper left) was completed by my engineer-husband's company in 1932, I felt thrilled to have a semi-personal connection with Hattori's success. I also like one of his mottos, "No hurry or rest". He seemed to have balance on his mind in all things. I started to understand my husband's appreciation of the product and to appreciate anew my own watch, which I received from him when I was a newly-wed and we were still living in Nagoya.

I saw this newspaper advertisement (on the left) from 1938.

The museum also had a section devoted to its sport timers and participation in various Olympics starting from the 1964 Tokyo Games. Seiko watches have also had the honour of being worn by astronauts and James Bond.

And lastly, not that I am a Bond girl, but I quite liked this watch from the sixties (see below).

 

I notice that I neglected to take any photographs of the inner workings of the watches, and I completely overlooked the world's first solar GPS watch released last year. I have been quite negligent - if you would like to know anything about the mechanical side of clocks, the best I can do is suggest you ask my husband. He is the true fan in our family. Here is one more photo of the most current watch that caught my eye. Does that mean I am stuck in the nineties? No never, I prefer to think it is a classic watch, it's a Seiko after all.