BY JAMES HENDERSON
At Minase: The author (left),
factory director Makato Wata-
nabe and Minase International
director Sven Henriksen
VISITING THE
MINASE
FACTORY
This small Japanese watchmaker says
watches should be made to last a lifetime.
INEVITABLY, THIS IS A STORY THAT IS GOING TO BE
PERSONAL. JAPAN WAS IN MANY WAYS WHERE MY ADULT
LIFE BEGAN. AND IT WAS TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO THAT I
FIRST PACKED MY BAG AND HEADED TO TOKYO. I WILL BE
FIFTY IN JULY, SO AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, THIS WAS A BIT OF
“BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME.”
I left right after work on Friday night and took the subway out to Logan (Bos-
ton) and caught my flight. Ironically enough, it was via Swiss taking me first to
Zurich, then connecting on to Tokyo (thank you for the very good deal on the
airfare Swiss!). And it made for some interesting conversations:
“What do you do?”
“I write about watches.”
“Oh, that makes sense that you’re going to Switzerland.”
“Actually, I am on my way to Japan.”
“Oh, so you’re visiting Seiko!”
“No.”
“G-Shock?”
“No, I am visiting Minase, in Akita.”
(insert puzzled expression here).
So not to put things off, but I think it is important to get an idea of just where
Minase is located. While there are administrative offices in Chiba-ken (essen-
tially the suburbs of Tokyo), the factory itself is a bit of a commute.
110 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SUMMER 2018
The Minase 5 Windows
in a gold case.