Casio
Casio’s head of design
Ryusuke Moriai
examines ancient
samurai swords.
watch store that sold G-Shocks. That last one was a bit of an eye-
or for random limited editions and collaborations. This time around, it
opener for Moriai-san, of all people, if for no other reason than because
was purely for fashion, yet, as with all G-Shocks, the basic foundation
of his aforementioned modest nature. To wit, as he was pointing out
of extreme durability under all conditions has been maintained.
some of the G-Shock models that he personally designed, I noted to
This juxtaposition of whimsy and functionality resonated with both
the staff that here, before them was none other than G-Shock royalty.
the collector community and the corporate halls of Casio alike, and
Thus, before Moriai-san could dissuade them, people were standing in
influenced many of the brand’s design directions going forward. (Ironi-
line to take his photo.
cally, the wildly successful monochromatic “Basic Black” series can
After we extricated ourselves from the adoring mob, we moved
also trace its origins to the bright colors of Harajuku.)
over to Harajuku’s Ground Zero, which is located at Takeshita
Street. Here, the crowd swells to almost Times Square proportions,
Samurai Swords
with the crush of Japanese teens, hipsters, goth “Lolitas” and tour-
Of course, there’s only so much of the visual and auditory cacophony
ists moving back and forth like the tide. The shops are one on top
of Harajuku that the casual tourist can take, and so it was that Moriai-
of the other, each fighting for your attention with bright colors and
san gently steered us off Takeshita Street, and led us further into the
even brighter lights.
residential neighborhood that surrounds the district. Soon, the hustle
It’s within this swirl of glitz, glam and outright flash that Moriai envi-
and bustle and sheer commercialism gave way to quiet streets and
sioned the blending of color and shapes that would come to define the
private homes, and it was at the end of one such street that we came
now-famous “Crazy Colors” line of G-Shocks, the most notable of which
across an unnamed shop with a humble facade that traded not in
uses his widely successful GA-110 model as a canvas. True, bright
fashion or watches, but rather ancient samurai swords.
colors have been used previously for G-Shock, but this was usually in
the service of practical concerns, like high visibility for first responders
78 | AboutTime Magazine
To say that the samurai sword occupies a place of special reverence in Japanese culture is to grossly understate the obvious. Not only