The Ginza district of Tokyo Japan is already well-known by watch lovers as a great place for watch shopping (or window shopping). Many major brands have boutiques there, such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, and a multi-level store featuring the hierarchy of Swatch-owned brands, from Swatch itself in the basement to Breguet on the upper floor. It's also a great place for used watch shopping. I have never seen so many Rolex Daytonas in one place in my life!
On a recent trip there, I was more focused on seeing Domestic content, however. The good and bad thing about the current age of eCommerce is that there isn't much available in Japan anymore that you can't find stateside. While I didn't purchase any watches, I did discover that Seiko has a small museum there. Better yet, it is free to visit.
Apologies for the poor-quality phone camera photos. I didn't have a lot of time to spend there before my flight, but I still thought that readers would find it interesting.
One of the first things that I learned in the museum is that Ginza is the birthplace of Seiko. I wondered why I hadn't known about this museum during my past trips to Japan, but it was moved to Ginza in 2020.
As of this time, the museum is organized by floor. That is how I'll organize this photo tour as well.
Main floor - The beginnings of time
The lobby houses a small gift area and a number of receptionists who can provide you with information. One of them even had what appeared to be a very cool green dial vintage Speedtimer on her wrist. I wish I had asked for a photo!
Extreme times
Starting from the basement, visitors can see significant Seiko sports watches and timing equipment. The focus is technologies that Seiko has developed "for people who want to push themselves to the limit."
Always one step ahead of the rest
Floor Two features a number of early watches, clocks, and pocket watches from Seiko and other significant companies.
It also has some original watch-making machines on display and in motion.
Read the captions of these photos! Seiko had a rough start but has certainly put that behind itself.
From Time Indicated by nature to human-made time
The Third floor has a number of interesting displays showing the earliest timekeeping inventions such as a sundial and water clocks, as well as the first mechanical clocks.
Precise (Seiko) time
Floor four exhibits some of Seiko's key innovations in time-keeping are on display here. The fifth floor is supposed to show the diversity that Seiko has created in its products, but unfortunately, it was closed for repair at the time that I visited.
Other Seiko spotting in Ginza
Ginza is also home to a number of other interesting visits for Seiko fans. There is a Grand Seiko boutique, Seiko House Ginza, as well as Seiko Dream Square, which is a very cool Seiko store, also with different floors organized by product line. The main floor features current highlights and Seiko 5 Sports. Then you can move up to Prospex on floor two, King Seiko, Presage, and Lukia on the third floor, and finally Astron on the fourth floor. Very cool!
What watch was I wearing?
My Seiko Prospex LX SNR049 Sky LE is a great travel companion!
