A Sheen that Comes Only from Use in Real Life and Time. Thinking about the Future of Traditional Crafts and Watches in the Home of Japan’s Oldest Porcelain Tradition.
Robert Campbell Meets Hiroyuki Hashiguchi

Seiko launched the Presage collection in 2011. As well as continuing Seiko’s proud tradition of more than a century of watchmaking, the Seiko Presage bring a uniquely Japanese aesthetic to the world.

The Seiko Presage showcases the remarkable craftsmanship and skills of the “Made in Japan” tradition, incorporating Japanese artisanal techniques into the dials. Inspired by an ambition to elevate the wristwatch into the realm of culture, and to preserve these traditions for the future, the watches highlight the superb skills of Japan’s artisans, helping to ensure that the skills of watchmaking and traditional crafts, which have remained at the heart of people’s daily lives throughout the changing times, are passed on for ages to come.

In this installment, we look at the Arita porcelain model, whose dial incorporates Arita porcelain, the first style of porcelain developed in Japan, with a history dating back more than 400 years.

Once again, our guest was Robert Campbell, the American scholar of Japanese literature. Campbell-san visited Shin-gama, a kiln established more than 190 years ago in the small town of Arita in Saga Prefecture, to learn about the similarities between watchmaking and traditional crafts. There he met Hiroyuki Hashiguchi, a certified master of traditional crafts who played a leading role in developing the Arita porcelain model for the Seiko Presage. Their conversation explored the commonalities between Arita porcelain and watchmaking, and the importance of preserving the values these crafts bring to people’s lives and ensuring that they survive into the future.

Arita Porcelain: More than 400 Years of History

―― Perhaps I can begin by asking Campbell-san about his impressions of Arita porcelain, the oldest porcelain tradition in Japan.

Robert Campbell：Arita’s position not far from Nagasaki, long a gateway for international trade, meant that the region was exposed to influences from overseas from an early stage. Arita porcelain was born out of a fusion of different cultures, and has been cherished by people across a long period of 400 years, including in Western countries. I think this cosmopolitan history comes out clearly in the details of Arita porcelain.

Looking at some of Hashiguchi-san’s pieces, for example, although in terms of genre they are clearly tableware designed for use in a Japanese context, certain aspects of the design, such as the foot on this piece here, give the pieces a slightly “Western” feel. I think this kind of fusion is what makes Arita porcelain so special. I find it very attractive; it’s almost as if these pieces contain the culture of the Japanese archipelago in a concentrated form.

Hiroyuki Hashiguchi：I am very happy to hear you say that. I always want my pieces to convey a sense of elegance. The challenge is to make pieces that have a clean, refined feel while still evoking the strong presence distinctive to the traditional crafts. I am always looking for the right balance, making little modifications at each step of the creative process. Not just the form of the piece, but the blending of the clay that determines the base color, firing, and painting of the decorative motifs.

Campbell：The e-tsuke decorative painting is definitely part of what gives Arita porcelain its distinctive appeal. I confess I had the impression that Arita porcelain was a style with lots of bright colorful designs. But during this visit, I have been struck by many pieces with rather subdued, understated designs based on motifs drawn from nature.

Hashiguchi：I like drawing motifs based on natural plants and flowers. Essentially, Arita porcelain is made from stone and water, dried by the wind, and finished by fire. It is a craft that is truly close to nature—as the owner of our kiln likes to say, Arita porcelain is created by the universe. For that reason, motifs based on plants and flowers as they appear in nature match the characteristics of Arita porcelain well.

Campbell：It really is a craft with a very broad range of expression. By making subtle changes in terms of the composition of the clay, the forming, and the decorative painting at the end, it seems there is almost no kind of piece you can’t make.

Hashiguchi：That’s right. In fact, taking part in this project for the Seiko Presage brought home to me just how diverse Arita porcelain can be. The colorful patterns of Arita porcelain made it extremely popular historically with the European aristocracy. But at the same time, it has always been used as a folk craft in the daily lives of ordinary people—this is another aspect of Arita porcelain that has remained unchanged over its long history. As someone engaged in making the pieces, I love the fact that Arita porcelain is still used and cherished by people in their daily lives. In that sense, the idea of incorporating it into a watch, which is something that people wear and use every day, also resonated with me.

―― I understand that the Shin-gama kiln was initially skeptical about the idea of collaborating on an Arita porcelain model with Seiko—they felt it would be difficult to pull off. What can you tell us about how things went after the decision to accept the challenge, until the actual watch was produced?

Hashiguchi：The biggest difficulty we anticipated was the durability and toughness that would be required. For a watch that people will use for a long time—a lifetime or longer—there is a need for robustness and durability in the dial. We felt that coming up with porcelain that would meet that demand would be difficult. Luckily, around the same time, the Saga Ceramics Research Laboratory, which does research and development work in the prefecture, developed a new kind of super-durable porcelain, more than four times stronger than the conventional kind.

We felt that if we used this new material, we might be able to produce a dial that would have the necessary durability. This breakthrough definitely boosted our motivation, I think.

But once we started work on the project, it was a long and steep difficult path to actually producing the finished watch . . . Arita porcelain is fired at 1300 degrees—a high temperature even compared to other ceramics—and the porcelain contracts during the firing process. The biggest challenge was to produce a fired ceramic that could be used in such a thin dial, without becoming distorted. At first, the dial would curl like a flower petal. We ran a process of trial and error, changing the shape of the mold, and adjusting the firing method, until finally we were able to produce a porcelain with the necessary level of high precision for use in a watch dial.

A Beauty That Reveals Itself Through Prolonged Use Over Time

―― Campbell-san, I wonder if your first impressions of the Seiko Presage have changed now that you hear about how difficult the watch was to develop?

Campbell：It just brings home to me how groundbreaking the development of the dial really was. In terms of my first impression, when I first held the Arita porcelain model and looked at the dial, the word that came into my mind was “numeri.” It has a kind of moist, organic, mellow brightness. You could also call it warmth, I suppose. Despite being uniformly crafted, it somehow seems to catch the light differently depending on the angle.

Another thing that impressed me was the silk-like sheen I seemed to feel coming off the face through the glass. I wonder what kind of techniques were necessary to bring out that kind of quality, so typical of Arita porcelain.

Hashiguchi：We paid particular attention to the shade of white, since that is the starting point for all Arita porcelain. Actually, Arita porcelain isn’t pure white. Arita is unusual among the world’s porcelain-producing regions in mass-producing ceramics from natural porcelain stone. This stone, which is the primary raw material, contains trace amounts of iron, and after the main firing it takes on a white tone with a hint of blue. This is what gives Arita porcelain its distinctive complexion.

Campbell：I see. Incidentally, what was the shade of white that you were looking for in this project?

Hashiguchi：We started by considering the purpose of the watch, and decided to focus on a shade of white that would produce a bright glimmer when the watch was used. With tableware, for example, the plates and dishes are not complete until food is served on them. The ideal shade of white is a color that vividly inspires the kind of food you want to serve on the plate.

The same can be said for a watch. We started by treating the surface of the dial as the canvas and then worked to create a shade of white that would present an attractive appearance in displaying the time. One step we took was to create slight indentations in the dial, to help bring out that shimmer even more clearly. This resulted in changes in the way the light interacts with the surface of the dial, and allowed us to incorporate a genuine Arita porcelain brightness to the dial.

With this watch too, natural light best brings out the effect. There are subtle gradations in the thickness of the glaze on those little indentations, so that the impression of the light changes slightly depending on the angle. As a craftsman, I feel this gives individuality to the watch. Of course, the watches are made in a uniform way, but for us as craftsmen, each one is unique. We put passion into crafting each piece, and I always feel that each one has its unique personality.

Campbell：At first glance, the pieces look uniform in their beauty, but if you look closely there are subtle differences, brought out by the artisan’s hand. I think this is what makes traditional crafts so attractive. It’s very impressive to think that these watches too are imbued with that kind of unique personality.

Incidentally, I was surprised to learn on this visit that Arita porcelain is used in the local elementary school for serving the children’s school lunches. Most schools use plates made from aluminum and plastic, but serving food on porcelain really makes a difference to the experience of eating. The weight you feel in your hand, the texture, that slight pressure that if you drop it on the floor it might break. I’m sure that these physical sensations help to inculcate a sense of respect for the importance of mealtimes, and they must play an important part in teaching children about the importance of food and diet.

Hashiguchi：Nowadays, there is a move to serve meals on a single plate, in the interests of efficiency. But what we want to convey to people through Arita porcelain dishes is quite the opposite: we want to bring a sense of richness of the experience of enjoying a meal. That might mean, when you see a porcelain plate for example, that you feel inspired to serve an omelet on it and take the time to enjoy the colors and the appeal to the senses of food served on the plate.

Campbell：Thought of in those terms, Arita porcelain also has an important role to play in passing down culinary culture. And this also has points of commonality with watchmaking. I wear a watch every day, and I find that checking the time on my phone feels quite different from looking at my watch. There is a different “weight” to it.

A phone is certainly handy, but a phone only gives me the time as superficial information. When I look at an analogue watch, the time is shown by the hands moving across physical space. The watch face represents time in a physical form, so that I can really see the chunk of time left till my next appointment. It gives you a perception of passing time, and that idea of treating the concept of time in a physical way is another point of similarity, I think.

Time is a concept that presses people to move, and brings people together. Seiko says that watches create a horological culture. The commonalities between watches and Arita porcelain serve as a reminder of the significance of this collaboration.

Hashiguchi：As someone involved in making crafts, I believe that there is a kind of beauty that can only be discovered by investing time and effort. Nothing would make me happier than for people to experience that physically for themselves while using the finished product.

Innovation and Tradition: Ensuring that Arita Porcelain Survives into the Future

―― Arita porcelain is an industry that involves many different artisans, from those who make the traditional gosu paints to the people involved in forming and finishing the porcelain. I’d like to ask you both what you think needs to be done to protect these artisans and nurture a new generation for the future.

Hashiguchi：Like other traditional crafts, we too face the challenges of an increasingly elderly population of artisans and a decline in the number of young craftspeople joining the industry. On top of that, the market is shrinking every year. To revitalize the craft, I think the first thing we need to do is to keep producing items that will be used. The school lunches project that was mentioned earlier is a good example. Working even harder to make pieces that remain true to the Arita tradition of being used in everyday lives, and continuing to convey their attraction to the younger generation—I think these things can help to protect these traditions and keep them alive into the future.

Campbell：Also, from the point of view of developing and nurturing the industry as a whole, I think it’s important to continue to create an environment that can produce groundbreaking new technology like the super-durable porcelain used in this watch. When I visited the Saga Ceramics Research Laboratory, I was impressed by the way it serves as a place where the various players involved in the Arita ceramics industry can come together to do research and test prototypes. It works as a place to try out new technology.

There were displays introducing the development of the model using 3D-CAD and NC cutting machines and pieces by commissioned artists. New experiments are underway aimed at rebranding Arita porcelain, while continuing to make use of the existing traditions and technology. I think it’s wonderful how the center helps to boost the motivation of the people engaged in making the porcelain.

Hashiguchi：To invigorate the metabolism of the industry, I think we will need to heighten the momentum for new craft techniques that will lead the industry into the future. I think that’s perhaps the biggest change we saw during the collaboration with the Seiko Presage—that sense of gathering momentum. People had the experience of taking on a difficult challenge and succeeding. The fact that the project won wide recognition and praise has definitely lifted the motivation of people across the whole industry.

For me personally, this project has prompted me to aspire for new challenges. Having worked mostly on producing pieces for everyday tableware, I am now also interested in trying out my skills in creating a more demanding art piece. I want this to be an industry where artisans can feel pride in their work, and where that pride and quality can be lifted further. With regard to this Arita porcelain model, as someone who works on the painted decoration, my dream is to do a painting on a watch dial one day.

Campbell：That’s a lovely ambition. On this visit, I have seen all kinds of Arita porcelain, and have sensed great potential for the future in the momentum that comes from cross-fertilization—the way in which one innovation born from a new kind of technology then goes on to produce further innovations, and so on.

Just as the invention of a new type of super-durable porcelain provided the opportunity for the Seiko Presage, I feel sure that the innovation that started from this small dial will lead to big steps toward the next stage in the future. Talking to Hashiguchi-san today, I felt sure that the future for Arita porcelain is as bright as its past, and I look forward to watching developments in the future.

Reflecting on the Discussion

With a history that stretches back 400 years and long contact with the world beyond Japan, Arita porcelain continues to take on new challenges. These characteristics apply to watchmaking as well, and during this conversation I felt the inevitability of the meeting between the two in the Seiko Presage.

In the bright glimmering sheen of the Arita porcelain dial, I sense the rich accumulation of time that has built up over the centuries. Wearing this proud tradition as a wristwatch means joining in communion with the horological culture.

Writer: Kaoruko Seya
Photographer: Shiori Banjo
Editing: Huuuu inc.