GINZA, the Japanese Meiji period’s designated “model of modernization,” is also the Mecca for the Seiko faithful — brand founder Kintaro Hattori chose a prime spot in the area on which he put up, in 1894, the Hattori Clock Tower. It’s exactly on this spot, too, where the Wako store was built, eventually becoming a Ginza landmark.

Now, Seiko Watch Corporation is further honoring its birthplace by opening the Seiko Dream Square, a new four-story retail complex pitched as a place where visitors can view and experience the brand’s history and heritage. The place houses showrooms, a museum and other entertainment facilities, all of which meant to “communicate the brand’s story globally.”

Oh, and Seiko promises visitors will be welcomed with the spirit of “Omotenashi,” a Japanese concept of providing the best service and hospitality.          

But, certainly, a major draw of the Seiko Dream Square is the ground-floor museum, which mimics the Wako clock tower’s interior; a freestanding sculpture made up of timepiece gears is quite a sight already. On the upper levels of the place are showrooms for Seiko Prospex, Presage, Lukia and Astron collections.

The Seiko Dream Square brings to four the number of Seiko venues in Ginza: Wako, Seiko Premium Boutique Ginza (both for luxury watches) and Seiko Boutique inside Ginza SIX.

“A Seiko watch is not merely an industrial product. It can be a partner to one’s life journey and story. It is our dream that Seiko Dream Square be the place where visitors from around the world would want to find this particular partner,” Seiko Watch Corporation chairman and CEO said during the place’s inauguration on December 19, 2018.