MASAHIRO KIKUNO - The last Wadokei?

A.H.C.I. candidate Masahiro Kikuno has recreated the temporal hour indication system of the historical Japanese Wadokei. At just 29 years of age, Kikuno is already a watchmaker to keep your eyes on.

Worldtempus -13 August 2012

Carlos Torres

In 1551, eight years after the first Portuguese had arrived at Japan’s shores, Jesuit priest João Rodrigues presented Yoshitaka Ohuchi, the daimio of Suo (the ancient name of today’s prefecture of Yamagushi), with a mechanical clock. It was to be the first example of its kind to enter the island nation, then ruled by the Ashikaga shogunate. The same João Rodrigues was later responsible for holding the first clock making course near Nagasaki around 1600.


Masahiro Kikuno is certainly one of the spiritual descendants of those students who first made contact with the western art of clock making more than four centuries ago. Kikuno is also the first Japanese candidate to enter the prestigious circle of the A.H.C.I., the Académie des Horlogers Créateurs Indépendants, an important step in the career of the young watchmaker and one that also certifies his high level of workmanship.


In 2005, at 22 years of age, Kikuno graduated from the most important watchmaking school in Japan, the Hiko-Mizuno in Tokyo, where he presently works as an assistant. During these last years his genius has produced some complicated pieces with retrograde indications and single and multi-axis tourbillons. His latest creations include the first perpetual calendar with tourbillon made in Japan and two remarkable wristwatches inspired by the old traditional temporal hour system of the Edo era.
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http://www.worldtempus.com/en/news/top-news/detail/article/1344247148-masahiro-kikuno-the-last-wadokei/