{"id":6658,"date":"2024-09-09T10:08:59","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T01:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/?p=6658"},"modified":"2025-11-27T06:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T21:10:10","slug":"explore001","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/minase-explore\/explore001.html","title":{"rendered":"#1. Garden of the FIVE WINDOWS"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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At the bottom of Mount Hiei sits a temple called Ruriko-in. While its location has no particular historical significance, the temple is famous for the view of lush green maple trees, seen from the second floor of its study, embodying the traditional sukiya-zukuri architecture style. If one searches the Internet with hashtags such as #Ruriko-in and #greenmaple in Japanese, you can find many images of the temple. So when Mr. Suzuki, CEO of MINASE, visited the famous temple, he reportedly felt like he was inside a MINASE watch, gazing at nature as if reflected on the watch\u2019s dial. Based on his personal perception of reality at the time, he told me about his project to develop the FIVE WINDOWS model of MINASE watch starting 20 years ago.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t

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FIVE WINDOWS is the model of MINASE watch where the brand\u2019s unique case-in-case structure originated: the inner case encapsulates the watch\u2019s movement and dial, within the voluminous outer case, with cut-out glass windows. He recalled his single-minded focus on the goal of developing a model that epitomized MINASE\u2019s state-of-the-art cutting and polishing technology. However, two decades after the FIVE WINDOWS watch was created, he remembered a conversation he had with the designer of the watch, in which he said it would be intriguing if MINASE could make a watch case that resembled yukimi-shoji (traditional Japanese paper sliding doors, whose lower sections incorporate glass windows), allowing the world to be viewed through those glass windows. This particular style of shoji is an architectural feature in Japan that lets the external view and light into houses. These doors combine shoji sections that slide up and down to cover or reveal the glass windows underneath, so people can see the outside as they please, like an ever-changing landscape picture in a frame\u2014a traditional Japanese way of living.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t

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The FIVE WINDOWS watch is a union of accurate clockwork, fully polished mirror-like dial, and nature reflected on the dial, through the glass windows. The voluminous spatial structure of the FIVE WINDOWS is not the result of the watchmaker trying to make something extraordinary and eye-catching. Rather, according to Mr. Suzuki, the concept of the watch embodying the beautiful view of the garden seen at the temple was the result of MINASE\u2019s desire to create a watch with changing beautiful expressions depending on the light and angle. This seemed plausible to me as a native of Japan. In my view, the painstaking accuracy of the watches\u2019 finish, down to the last detail, is the secret ingredient that complements the stunning spatial features of their design.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t

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\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis is an in-depth travelogue of Mr. K. Kawakami who specializes in writing reports on various factories.\nHe takes a look at the fundamental value of MINASE, with incisive insight and observation refined over the years, as a seasoned expert on the watch industry.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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  • \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWriter : K. Kawakami<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    K. Kawakami is a professional writer specializing in exploring diverse factories, reporting on their unique manufacturing practices in Japan and around the world. He travels to the factories of many manufacturers that operate on the principle of perfection, including watches, electrical appliances, shoes, fashion items, buildings, foods, confections, and traditional crafts.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    At the bottom of Mount Hiei sits a temple called Ruriko-in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-fullwidth.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6658","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minase-explore"},"menu_order":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6658"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10897,"href":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6658\/revisions\/10897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minase-watches.com\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}