A Majestic Landmark Inheriting the Tradition and Culture of Ginza

Kintaro Hattori, who founded Hattori Clock Store in 1881, bought a building on the corner of Ginza 4-chome in 1894 and renovated and expanded it into an office building. He built a clock tower on its roof to tell the accurate time to the people on the street. Then, in 1932, the second generation clock tower was completed. The historic clock tower of the building, now renamed "SEIKO HOUSE," still tells the time to the town of Ginza, and has also become valuable as an existence that conveys messages to society, such as ringing the bell at 7:00 PM during the COVID-19 pandemic to show gratitude to medical workers. Entering this landmark is the specialty store "WAKO," founded in 1947 by inheriting the retail division of Hattori Clock Store. The show windows cutting out the times are exactly the face of the town, and they also line up fine goods such as jewelry and bags selected by their cultivated aesthetic eye. Ginza, which used to be a place to introduce Western culture to Japan, is now rather a place to broadcast beautiful Japanese luxury to the world. Seiko House and Wako are the unchanging symbols of Ginza, and at the same time, the symbols of an evolving Ginza.