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.
In this second article of the series, we explore the power and unique appeal of the blue hues that breathe through the landscapes of Yamagata.
MRG-B5000BA — Suffused with the spirit of pristine mountain springs and clear-flowing rivers
The Profound Strength and Serenity of Blue
By Shigeo Goto
Nature, formed over the course of countless millennia, is instrumental in the shaping of people and the creation of stories. Those familiar with the work of Atsushi Mori, the Akutagawa Prize-winning novelist who penned several masterpieces of modern literature — Gassan (“Mount Gassan”), Chokaisan (“Mount Chokai”), and Ware Yuku Mono no Gotoku (“I Am as the Transitory”) — will identify with this sentiment more keenly still. Undoubtedly, the area watched over by the graceful, towering form of Mount Chokai, which stands at the northern extremity of Yamagata along the prefectural border shared with Akita, surely carries special associations for many people, not just Mori.
Mount Chokai may project a state of serenity in recent years, but it remains an active volcano. With a history of transforming into an inferno of raging fire and flames, Chokai has been revered as a sacred peak. The mountain itself has been worshipped as a deity associated with ritual purification.
Ushiwatari River: Serenely flowing, clean groundwater welling up from fissures and crevices in rocks and boulders from beneath Mount Chokai, the Ushiwatari is just 4 km long.
That this mountain has yet produced numerous pristine rivers, streams, and springs that gush forth from its abundant subterranean stores of groundwater can, one supposes, only be attributed to the miraculous arrangement or design of the cosmos. Flowing from a source in the town of Yuza’s north section, the waters of the Ushiwatari River display such an astonishing level of clarity as to suggest to any who might lay eyes upon them an image of purity in its truest form.
A very special pond known reverently and endearingly by the appellation Maruike-sama is also found near Yuza’s Oomonoimi Shrine, with water that springs forth into it, revealing a shifting range of hues from emerald green to turquoise and blue as the sunlight illuminates it. With the sacred nature attributed to Maruike-sama, the site has been treated as holy ground where none may set foot.
Ushiwatari River: A flowering aquatic plant related to the buttercup, grows exclusively in pristine water like this, where spring water quietly wells up from among rocks and boulders. The delicate forms of the plant swaying in the serene waters of the Ushiwatari attest to the purity of the river.
To consider, though, what the significance of such a phenomenon might be, with a particular body of water — a form of physical matter so ubiquitous — coming to be worshipped from a distance as something of such special import, invites a certain question: By what sort of arrangement or design might something come to transcend its status as a merely physical thing to take on special power, special strength? Herein lies, I would suggest, a powerful form of sympathetic interconnection between people and things.
It is precisely this line of thought that fills me with such appreciation of the profound meaning of the siting of the main center of Casio G-SHOCK production here in Yamagata, where timepieces are crafted amid landscapes imbued with such natural and cultural abundance.
Consider, for instance, the turquoise and blue hues of Maruike-sama Pond. From East to West, times ancient to modern, sacred qualities have been associated with blue, a symbolic color featured in the religious paintings of Europe and the mosaic tiles of Middle Eastern mosques’ domed ceilings. In Japan, as well, deep-blue paper with gold lettering was used for the 12th-century Heike Nokyo sutra transcriptions, an expression of the utmost level of spiritual beauty.
Maruike-sama Pond: Filled with water welling up from beneath Mount Chokai, the surface of the pond glows in the light with turquoise and blue hues. Their impressive clarity gives the pond a look of mystical radiance.
There exists as well a unique expression of beauty known as ao-zumi, an inky, near-black shade suffused with the essence of blue, conjuring associations with a Zen state of mind — a color that has captivated Eastern painters and calligraphers across the ages.
While it amazed me to learn that design capturing the essence of this ao-zumi hue had been incorporated into G-SHOCK crafting with the MRG-B5000BA, an impressive watch in the brand’s flagship MR-G line, it made a certain kind of sense as well. This was a timepiece designed with a passion for toughness, now taking on the unique power, the strength, of this special blue, which borders on inky black.
Maruike-sama Pond: The subterranean spring water flowing into the pond gives it a low year-round temperature of just 11°C (52°F). This, along with the continuous replacement of the water, is said to preserve the fallen trees submerged in the pond from decay for miraculous lengths of time.
Color is instrumental in forging connections between people and things. It imparts power, strength. The gradations of deep, profound blue revealed at dawn and at dusk act to draw people further along into the midst of the cosmos — a power, a strength, known in ancient times as it was discerned in the shade of ao-zumi.
The essence of blue-tinged light is a color interlinked with the workings of spiritual nature. “Acts of light” is how colors were described by the great natural philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who provided inspiration to countless artists with his Theory of Colors.
“Light and spirit, the former in the physical realm, the latter in the moral,” he further expounded, “are the highest conceivable indivisible energies.”
Though we might tend to feel, in this age of lightning-fast change, as if some special sort of power or strength has been lost while things, objects, end up as mere items for mass consumption, this oversimplifies the matter.
The sympathetic interconnections between people and things, as in Goethe’s understanding of light and spirit, constitute indivisible energies, as well. As such, even as one age replaces another, some things remain, things not apt to fade away so simply.
Surely, people will continue to learn from these unique things, imbued with power and special significance, and in doing so, they will come to understand what it means to transcend time. While the purest water may appear with the tranquil clarity of turquoise or blue, it has concealed within it an energy of the most fearsome power, as well. While exuding serenity, it holds dynamic strength at the same time. Water teaches the secrets to transcending time.
The MRG-B5000BA represents the culmination of an approach to crafting driven by a passion for capturing this very essence. Its design incorporates relentlessly researched metals that deliver toughness and durability, finished with sophisticated techniques and meticulous care. Who would not be impressed to learn that the bezel and outer case of each watch are not made with a simple integrated mold, but instead boast a complex construction comprising 25 separate components? And beyond this, that these parts are crafted with materials including COBARION®, an alloy about four times harder than pure titanium said to have a brilliant gleam comparable to platinum, and the grade 5 titanium alloy?
Blue vapor deposition applied to the sapphire crystal on the MRG-B5000BA further captures the essence of blue-tinged light. The finest details of this approach to crafting reveal a passion for the ultimate.
Each watch represents the crystallization of a quiet, profound quest to capture the energy hidden in the essential qualities of things. To call them creations with a spirit of their own would be no overstatement.
To adorn one’s wrist with such a masterfully crafted timepiece would very well confer a sense of joy and a power, a strength, transcending time and space.
MRG-B5000BA
A timepiece imbued with a uniquely Japanese spirit integrating innovative technologies with the beauty of deep-blue ao-zumi.
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).
