As an antique dealer, I often interact with different “times”. In the world of antique collecting, the concept of “time” is used to connect spaces and all kinds of things, resulting in the diverse array of antique products. When we try to measure the passing of time, the timepiece becomes an observer of one era after another. This is similar to how intellectuals in Japan’s Meiji period referred to timepieces as Bonbon Tokei (ボンボン時計) — with “Bonbon” being the onomatopoeia for the chiming sound of a clock, capturing the rhythms and tempos that reflect the rapid changes of the world occurring second by second.
The history of timekeeping spans the development of various natural-based methods, from sundials that utilized sunlight, to water clocks and hourglasses that relied on the flow of water and sand, to incense clocks that measured time through the burning of incense. These natural timekeeping techniques were prevalent until around the late Muromachi period (1550) when the first Spanish Jesuit missionary, Saint Francis Xavier, arrived in the Suo region of Yamaguchi (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture) with a mechanical clock. As part of negotiations to allow the missionary to preach, Saint Francis Xavier presented the local daimyo, Ouchi Yoshitaka, with the clock which featured a spring-driven mechanism that could distinguish between hours and minutes. There are also records indicating that in the 11th year of the Keichō Era (1606), a missionary presented a Lantern Clock to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who then had it installed in the tower of Fushimi Castle. Subsequently, during the Edo period, church schools in Nagasaki and other areas began producing their own mechanical timepieces, influencing the later development of traditional Japanese timepiece and timekeeping practices.
The oldest existing physical timepiece is a brass-made table clock preserved at the Kunozan Toshogu Shrine. This exquisite timepiece features delicate relief carvings on the exterior, an internal iron mechanism, and Roman numeral hour markings. Notably, it has only an hour hand and lacks a minute hand. The upper part of the clock includes a bell-striking mechanism that is driven by a mainspring. The lower front of the clock is engraved with the words “Manufactured in Madrid, Spain in 1581”.
Before the Meiji Era, Japan’s timepieces were heavily influenced by the country’s isolationist policies. As a result, the modernization of timekeeping lagged behind that of Western nations. However, with the Meiji Restoration, Japan rapidly embraced Western culture and technology, including the advancements of the Second Industrial Revolution. In 1872, the Meiji government initiated a calendar reform, transitioning from the traditional lunar-based calendar to the solar-based Gregorian calendar used in the West. This shift allowed Japan to better align with international standards and facilitate global exchange.
The early Meiji period witnessed a significant influx of Western imports into Japan, including British-made wall clocks which were widely adopted for use in government offices. These imported timepieces, however, were initially prohibitively expensive, making them accessible only to the upper classes and the wealthy elite. Taking inspiration from these foreign designs, local Japanese manufacturers began producing the country’s first domestically-made timepieces. A major turning point came in 1877, when the First National Industrial Exhibition in Tokyo’s Ueno district provided a platform for the burgeoning domestic timepiece industry. Domestic production soon accelerated, with companies like the Tokyo-based Kanemotosha, established in the 8th year of the Meiji Era (1875), leading the way as the first true Japanese manufacturers of timepieces. However, during this early period, the company was unable to fully produce the intricate mechanisms internally, and their products remained largely handmade.
It wasn’t until the Second National Industrial Exhibition in 1881 that Japan’s timepiece makers eventually stabilized their production of wall and table clocks. Building on this momentum, four years later, Yujiro Nakacho in Aichi Prefecture pioneered the country’s first large-scale, mechanized timepiece manufacturing. Drawing inspiration from American production models, Nakacho was able to streamline the process, resulting in greater efficiency and affordability.
In the late 19th century, Yujiro Chujo and Hyoebei Hayashi of Nagoya established Jiseisha, which marked the start of large-scale, mass-produced timepiece manufacturing in Japan. In the following years, from the late 1880s through the 1890s, many more timepiece companies were founded in cities like Himeji, Osaka, Tokyo, and Kyoto, driving down prices to affordable levels for the general public. These Japanese-made timepieces soon began to be exported, reaching markets in Southeast Asia.
The Japanese timepiece industry faced challenges during World War II, but quickly recovered in the postwar period with designs beginning to move away from Western influences. Today, antique collectors in Japan particularly prize wall clocks and “Taisho romantic style” timepieces from the pre-war era. Collectors including myself not only seek out timepieces that were once used in schools, train stations, and cafes, but also employ period-appropriate tools to restore them, carefully documenting the inner workings of each cherished piece.
While researching Japan’s timepiece history over the past two centuries, it appears that many cafes own timepieces belonging to the Surigeru (スリゲル) series. The name, Surigeru, is linked to the weight-driven pendulum clocks that were manufactured in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany during the late 18th to early 20th centuries. However, numerous foreign loan words were heavily adapted during Japan’s Meiji period, often obscuring their original roots. In the case of Surigeru, the term came to refer to a specific style of wall clock characterized by a slim, rectangular case and three-sided glass panels. Interestingly, the name of Surigeru was used interchangeably with variants like Surigiru (スリギル), Suringeru (スリンゲル), and Surigeru (スリゲール) in different regions during the early Meiji Era. Experienced collectors can often pinpoint a clock’s origins based on these regional naming conventions, providing valuable clues about their provenance and history.
The Surigeru series that emerged from the Kanto region became known for their distinct design: a slender, rectangular case housing a Winding (ゼンマイ式) movement, which utilized an improved German-derived mechanism. For vintage timepiece collectors, using modern deconstructing methods to gain insights into the original manufacturing techniques is an interesting way to find balance between incorporating contemporary approaches and preserving traditional craftsmanship when restoring these historical pieces.
