Time stands still. Or at least it seems to here before the Wako Clock Tower in Ginza. This isn’t just any clock tower. This is a symbol of Ginza itself. A testament to resilience. A marvel of precision.
The first Wako Clock Tower wasn’t here. It stood proudly from 1894. It was a different style. Then in 1921 it was demolished. A new building was planned. The Great Kanto Earthquake struck. It was a setback. But the dream of a clock tower persisted.
In 1932 a neo-Renaissance masterpiece rose. Its clock. A precision instrument. Made in Germany. The hands moved in half-second increments. Daily adjustments ensured accuracy. Even the minute hand never strayed. The clock faces. Four of them. They were almost perfectly oriented to north south east and west. Giant. The minute hand alone measured 1.17 meters. The hour hand 0.75 meters. The glass protecting them? It had to be thick. At least 24 millimeters. They ordered it from Belgium.
The sounds of the clock. Initially just an hourly chime. Then in 1954 it started playing the Westminster chimes. Every quarter hour. The technology evolved. First a weight-driven system then a Seiko quartz movement. Then a shortwave radio system for correction. Finally. GPS-based time correction. Two master clocks for redundancy. Even a backup using telephone lines.
The tower survived an air raid in 1945. Three clock faces cracked. But the building remained. It’s remarkable. Even today this clock tower continues to stand. A beautiful symbol of Ginza’s enduring spirit. Its accuracy has improved. From pendulum to quartz to GPS. This is more than a clock. This is history.