Morioka, the birthplace of modern mechanical Grand Seiko
Discover the history and culture of Morioka, capital of Iwate prefecture and home of the Grand Seiko mechanical watches.
Originally posted on September 2019
Let’s discover Morioka together, the capital city of Iwate prefecture, where mechanical Grand Seiko are manufactured.
Iwate prefecture is one of the six prefectures of the Tōhoku region, which lies to the northeast of the island of Honshu, Japan's main island. It's a rural, mountainous region, sadly known for the terrible earthquake off its coast, followed by the terrible tsunami that hit Fukushima in 2011.
But it's also a region known for some of the world's greatest snowfalls and hot springs. Its wild nature, well-developed crafts and rich history make this region a very interesting destination for discovering another facet of Japan, easily accessible by Shinkansen from Tokyo.
The prefecture and its capital city are dominated by the imposing Mount Iwate, another source of inspiration for Grand Seiko, which we'll talk about in a dedicated article.
The city is also known as the birthplace of the Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi where mechanical Grand Seiko watches are assembled. Shizukuishi is a small town on the outskirts of Morioka with a population of 17,000 and is best known for its ski resort, but also for a different reason now thanks to GS enthusiasts!
I'd like to introduce you to the town of Morioka through its famous summer festival, a purely Japanese attraction, a gastronomic specialty and its village of craftsmen.
Sansa Odori
Summer in Japan is synonymous with festivals, or matsuri in Japanese. The town of Morioka hosts the Sansa Odori festival, one of the five major festivals in the Iwate region, which takes place from August 1st to 4th each year.
Many years ago, a demon - or oni in Japanese - by the name of Rasetsu terrorized the people of the Morioka region. Distraught by the situation, the inhabitants turned to a local deity, Mitsuishi-kami (kami meaning god in Japanese), praying that he would free them from the demon. Mitsuishi-kami caught Rasetsu and made him swear to leave the inhabitants alone. As a proof of his pledge, Rasetsu left a handprint on one of the rocks of the Mitsuishi Shrine.
Les rochers du Sanctuaire Mitsuishi
The villagers were so happy that they began to dance, singing “Sansa! Sansa!”. This is the origin of the Sansa Odori festival and its traditional dances. It was also this legend that gave its name to the prefecture of Iwate or 岩手, whose name is made up of the kanji 岩 for stone and 手 for hand.
Today, Sansa Odori is best known for being the largest festival of Taiko, the traditional Japanese drums, and even the largest percussion gathering in the world, with 3,437 drums gathered at the 2014 matsuri.
Every year, over 10,000 dancers and percussionists parade through the streets of Morioka, and passers-by can even take part in the parade and traditional dances.
Ishiwari Zakura
石割桜 or Ishiwarizakura is another of Morioka's attractions. It's a very strong symbol for the Japanese who pass by Morioka Court, since it's a 360-year-old cherry tree that grew by splitting a huge boulder in half. Its name in Japanese simply means “The rock-breaking cherry tree”.
The cherry tree being one of Japan's most important symbols, and the Japanese being renowned for their pride and determination - values stemming from Bushido, the way of the warrior - it's easy to see how this rock-breaking cherry tree is a very important symbol for them.
Source: http://tabikabe.jp
Wankosoba
Like France, each region of Japan has its own culinary specialties. While the Tōhoku region is known for the sake produced from its particularly pure water, the town of Morioka is more particularly known for a particular type of noodle.
Soba are buckwheat noodles that can be eaten hot or cold. Just like Italian pasta, there are many soba-based specialties. What makes wankosoba so special is not the recipe for these noodles, but the way they are eaten.
When you sit down at a wankosoba restaurant in the streets of Morioka, you're not about to eat a meal like any other, but you're engaging in a challenge of your own, a challenge between you and your waitress. Noodles are served in small bowls that hold no more than a mouthful of noodle, but as soon as your bowl is empty, your waitress immediately refills it with the contents of another bowl. The aim of the game is to eat as many bowls as possible. Once your stomach is full, a second challenge awaits: you have to manage to cover your bowl with its lid before the waitress fills it up again! The average adult eats between 50 and 60 bowls. For the hungriest, the record is 570 bowls!
Chris Broad from the YouTube channel AbroadInJapan faces the Wankosoba challenge !
Tezukuri-Mura
Finally, the Iwate region is known for its various crafts, such as Urushi lacquerware or Iwashu, the cast-iron Nambu Tekki teapots, Nambu being the region's ancient name.
Seiko and Grand Seiko have made no mistake in developing urushi lacquer dials, since urushi lacquer is one of the region's strongest symbols.
To showcase local crafts and boost tourism in a region recently devastated by natural disasters, the town has opened the Morioka Handicrafts Village or Tezukuri-Mura, where you can discover some fifteen specialties and even try your hand at them. Just 1km from the famous Shizukuishi Watch Studio, you can discover the work of local artists.
To understand the inspiration of the people who create the mechanical Grand Seiko we love so much, it's important to know and understand where they come from and what surrounds them. The Tōhoku region is particularly developing its tourism in order to revive its economy after the tragic 2011 earthquake, so this is an opportunity to discover local culture and history, and to discover a very different side of Japan, off the beaten track. Discovering Morioka gives you a better understanding of the approach to watchmaking developed by the craftsmen of the Shizukuishi Watch Studio and their various sources of inspiration, also off the beaten track. So, if you get the chance, don't hesitate to discover this magnificent region of Japan, and who knows, you might even find a few watches there...
The pride of Shinshu
Seiko Epson's craftsmen and craftswomen were inspired by local history and culture to create a fabulous dial that is their pride and joy, and a tribute to the region.
Originally posted on September 2019
Formerly known as Suwa Seikosha, Seiko Epson is based in the Matsumoto region of Nagano prefecture, in the center of Honshu, Japan's main island. The small town of Shiojiri is home to the manufacture of Grand Seiko watches equipped with Spring Drive 9R and Quartz 9F movements. The town's name literally means "salt's butt", as it was historically located at the end of the salt route, equidistant from the ocean up north or down south.
Shiojiri
The studio where Grand Seiko watches equipped with the 9F and 9R are assembled is called Shinshū Watch Studio. Shinshū is the former name of Nagano prefecture. It is in fact an abbreviation of the full name of Shinano prefecture. Matsumoto University is named Shinshū University.
The Shinshū Watch Studio - Credit Deployante.com
The name of the studio where these GS are assembled is therefore already a tribute to local history in itself.
When Grand Seiko released its first models equipped with the fabulous Spring Drive movement in 2004, three models were announced: the SBGA001, 003 and 005. The SBGA005 was a limited edition, and like all LEs (Limited Edition), it had a little something extra that deserves its own article.
Today, we're taking a closer look at the SBGA001, which recently became SBGA201.
As the Spring Drive is unique to the Shinshū Watch Studio, Seiko Epson's teams considered paying an homage to the local culture with this historic watch, as it is the first Grand Seiko equipped with the Spring Drive.
To understand this, you have to travel 10 kilometers south of Seiko Epson, to the town of Okaya on Lake Suwa, to find the Silk Museum.
In the past, Okaya was the Japanese capital of sericulture (silkworm cultivation) and silk-making in general, thanks to the water from Lake Suwa and the large number of mulberry trees growing in the region. A hundred years ago, Japan produced 80% of the world's raw silk, and silk accounted for half of the country's exports, indicating the importance of this craft in local culture and in Japan.
The teams at Shinshū Watch Studio have therefore succeeded in designing a sumptuous dial that is their pride and joy, paying homage to an art form specific to the region, its culture and its history. You have to see these dials with your own eyes to appreciate the silky texture and magnificent reflections they offer, and you'll find yourself transported straight back to Okaya, at the side of a granny spinning silk to produce a magnificent kimono.
These dials are made by hand, one by one, by a small handful of operators whose finely honed gestures are reflected in the delicate sunburst texture of the dials. It takes no less than 11 steps to create these silky little masterpieces, between the various stages of mirror polishing, soleillage, plating and so on. They require more manufacturing steps than the famous Snowflake dial, another symbol of the Shinshū Watch Studio!
You can now take advantage of this pride of Shiojiri on numerous references. And now you know they're not champagne dials, but silk dials, Okaya style!
