The value of toughness that transcends time
MR-G — the flagship line of the G-SHOCK brand — has built a unique and unshakable position in the world of timepieces, driven by the design concept of delivering the ultimate in toughness.
This series of articles will explore the charms of this singular line of watches by reflecting upon striking landscapes and historic architectural works in Japan which exude a beauty transcending time.
First, we take you to several sites of profound spiritual significance formed of stone in eastern Yamagata Prefecture.
Contemplating the connections between the MRG-B2100B and the historic sites of Yamadera
Timeless Arts and Traditional Forms
By Shigeo Goto
Physical and cultural landscapes take form through the workings of man and nature, fostered and molded by the unyielding flow of time.
As people in the modern world, we tend to believe human history is the creation of our own efforts and capacities. In fact, though, it is also shaped by the forces of these landscapes. Japanese ways of life and modes of thought are, at a deep level, determined by natural and cultural landscapes.
As Hideo Kobayashi — a keenly discerning luminary of Japanese literary criticism — once stated, “Tradition is things; it is forms.”
His assertion encompasses a coldly objective paradox. Namely, that the things and forms crafted with human ingenuity only become tradition as they remain in the world long after their crafters are gone. This applies not only to the artisanal crafting traditions of Japan; it points to a stance characterized by beauty and toughness through time, a fundamental quality common to all of the fine and performing arts.
This can be seen as well in the essence of the leading-edge technologies developed at Yamagata Casio to craft the MR-G timepieces that stand at the pinnacle of the G-SHOCK brand. Though it may be an unexpected perspective, the siting of the G-SHOCK “mother factory” amid the landscape of Yamagata — shaped by Mount Gassan, the tributaries of the Mogami River, and other natural features — impresses me deeply with senses of the influence of that topography, in both physical and cultural senses, and the interconnections between the site and its surrounding landscape.
Watches represent a form of technology that grapples with the mysteries of time. G-SHOCK takes that a step further with the unchanging essence of its design — defined by constant dedication to strength and durability, offering resistance to shock from drops and impacts — ever since the brand debuted some 40 years ago. How fascinating it is to contemplate this persistent quest to refine the crafting of forms that transcend time with watch technologies invented to manage time.
Tarumizu Ruins: Cavernous hollows with strikingly shaped stone surfaces feature honeycomb-like depressions in a stratum of volcanic tuff formed in the Neogene period. The site exudes a rugged air of sublimity, explaining why so many find it a site of profound spiritual significance.
In that sense, I feel strong associations with a couple sites of striking scenic beauty, the Tarumizu Ruins and Risshaku-ji Temple, located in the Yamadera — literally “Mountain Temple” — area not far from the Yamagata Casio production facilities. The temple’s history dates to the 9th century, when it was founded by Ennin, known posthumously as Jikaku Daishi, a monk of the Tendai sect based on Mount Hiei. Legend has it that Ennin took lodging in the Tarumizu grottoes on his first visit to the area. A strong sense of spiritual energy pervades the site still today.
Indeed, the vast temple complex of Risshaku-ji Temple itself might, as its name — literally “Standing Stone Temple” — suggests, be described best as having been built atop a foundation of stone. This famed temple, founded by Ennin with the Imperial sanction of Emperor Seiwa, still honors traditions passed down from Enryaku-ji, the Tendai sect’s head temple on Mount Hiei, including keeping the “eternal flame” of the Dharma lit and having monks-in-training practice a special form of Lotus Sutra transcription by hand. This is truly an extraordinary site of living spiritual devotion that transcends time.
Tarumizu Ruins: An intricate conglomeration of massive stones and rock faces gives the site a distinctive mystical beauty.
One might even say that the secret to this sacred site’s impressive longevity lies in its extensive incorporation of stone elements, with its prayer tablets carved into stone, stone pagodas, stone torii gates… The entire site exists thanks to extraordinary stone-working techniques passed down across generations of artisans since ancient times. More accurately, it was born of a collaboration between forces of nature and stoneworkers with great insight into how those forces work.
In sheer stone surfaces composed of volcanic tuff, weathered and shaped by wind and water over the course of long ages, innumerable holes have formed. The sight of these, offering glimpses of the workings of unyielding time, must have undoubtedly guided ascetic practitioners in envisioning nirvana, a state transcending the worldly cycle of death and rebirth. Truly, it is the interconnections between people and nature that have shaped the cavernous hollows of Tarumizu and carried them into the present, transcending time.
Risshaku-ji Temple: The temple’s Nokyodo, a structure housing sutras hand-copied by monks-in-training, is perched atop a sheer precipice called Hyakujo Iwa, which formed between tens of thousands and millions of years ago.
What is this emotion that wells up, coming face to face with a site like this with a history spanning a thousand years and more? What sort of dialogue might the visitor engage in with these physical forms, which have existed so much longer than the human lifespan?
Time may not be visible to the eye. And yet, there is nothing else quite so inextricably intertwined with the life of the human being. As people, we do not live forever, and it must be for this very reason that we strive to bring forth things and forms that transcend time.
The key factor here is the art, the technique: the artisanal craft. What particularly impressed me in learning about the MRG-B2100B, a very special MR-G timepiece, were the designs of its bezel and outer case. Fashioned to safeguard the watch from shock, these parts alone incorporate 27 components. This design sensibility gives me such a sense of the considerable — in a sense, karmatic — interconnections at play here.
Risshaku-ji Temple: The entire mountain, formed of huge, distinctively shaped stone outcroppings and rock faces over the course of many long ages, is a site associated with profound spiritual devotion.
Contemplating the future through the art of inquiry
I am reminded of a perceptive, fundamental analysis put forth by Tim Ingold — a cultural anthropologist offering a consistent and significant source of inspiration to contemporary artists, architects, and others — in his work, Making.
In his view, a theorist and a craftsman would answer differently with regard to their relation to the future. While the theorist “makes through thinking,” he suggests, the craftsman thinks of the future through their processes of making.
In Ingold’s words, “The way of the craftsman . . . is to allow knowledge to grow from the crucible of our practical and observational engagements with the beings and things around us. This is to practice what I would like to call an art of inquiry.”
This art of inquiry he proposes points to an approach of moving along while remaining keen to what might occur next in the course of making things. As the sense of a toughness transcending the flow of unyielding time pervades the caverns of Tarumizu, so similarly qualities of strength and beauty transcendent of time are whispered in the design of the MRG-B2100B — in its physical components, in its form. In one as the other, we can sense this very art of inquiry described by Ingold.
The concept of antiquity denotes not just times past. Rather, it exists as things — as forms — that give rise to what we know as the future. Thoughts of the Tarumizu Ruins and Risshaku-ji Temple along with the MRG-B2100B timepiece — all born of the natural and cultural landscapes of Yamagata — resonate with me in this regard.
MRG-B2100B
Innovative materials and artisanal craftwork are integrated in a stunning multi-component structure delivering the sophisticated refinement of traditional Japanese aesthetics.
Shigeo Goto
Born in Osaka. Editor and creative director. Professor at Kyoto University of the Arts. Widely active as an editor and art producer since the 1980s in fields ranging from premodern artforms to cutting-edge contemporary art, and involved in numerous sensational, thought-provoking projects. Recognized as one of the most discerning arbiters of taste of our time, with an unparalleled capacity for discovering and encouraging artistic talent. Notable written works include Dokutoku Rojin (“Distinctive Elders”; Chikuma Bunko), skmt (co-authored with Ryuichi Sakamoto; Chikuma Bunko), and Choshashinron (“Super Photography Theory”; co-authored with Kishin Shinoyama; Shogakukan). His most recently published work is Gendai Shashin To Ha Nan Daro? (“What is Contemporary Photography?”; Chikuma Bunko).
