Why Odaka, Fukushima?
— The place fireworks led me to —
Hello.
My name is Masayasu Hiraoka, founder of Fukushima Watch Company.
In the previous story, I shared how my journey with watches began
and how I stepped onto the world stage at Baselworld in Switzerland.
After realizing that Made in Japan watches could stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s finest,
my thoughts turned toward a very different destination.
A small town in Fukushima.
This is the story of why I chose Odaka,
and why I decided to make watches here.
Recovery Needs Work
When I felt the global potential of Japanese watchmaking at Baselworld,
why did my thoughts turn toward Tohoku?
The answer lies in another side of my life.
Alongside my work in watches,
I had also become a fireworks craftsman—
a path that began simply from loving fireworks.
Photo: A watchmaker who followed his passion for fireworks and eventually learned to launch them.
Through those connections,
I began visiting Tohoku as a volunteer immediately after the 2011 earthquake.
Standing before landscapes swept away by the tsunami,
staring at the ocean in silence,
one question stayed with me.
“What does recovery really mean?”
Photo: The aftermath of the tsunami, where entire towns were swept away.
Rebuilding roads and structures alone does not bring a town back to life.
A community needs work—
industries people can take pride in,
jobs that give meaning to daily life.
Without that,
time cannot truly begin moving again.
That thought never left me.
Recovery needs work.
The Vision of a “Japanese Geneva”
One day, an image suddenly came to mind.
Photo: The city of Geneva, Switzerland.
Geneva—
a city with fewer than 200,000 people,
yet home to countless watchmakers
and a globally respected industry.
Designers, parts makers, assemblers—
a network of specialists supporting one another through division of labor.
I thought:
“If this model works in Switzerland,
couldn’t something similar exist in Tohoku?”
After Baselworld in 2019,
that vague idea became something clearer.
“I want the growth of Japan’s watch industry
to contribute to the recovery of Tohoku.”
Watchmaking and recovery—
they suddenly felt connected by a single line.
Fireworks Led Me to a Miraculous Place
At that point, however, I still hadn’t found a location.
My encounter with Odaka came in 2020—
purely by chance.
That year, the pandemic caused fireworks festivals across Japan to be canceled.
Searching for a place to launch unused fireworks shells,
I happened to arrive in Odaka.
Photo: December 30, 2020.
Five thousand fireworks were launched over Odaka, carrying hope for a brighter year ahead.
(Photo courtesy of Twilight Fukushima Fireworks Festival)
Because of the nuclear accident,
no one had been able to live here for nearly six years.
As I visited repeatedly for preparations,
I began to notice something.
Unlike other areas undergoing rapid redevelopment,
Odaka remained untouched—
as if time had simply paused.
The sea, the mountains,
and vast rural landscapes stretched out before me.
Photo: A landscape preserved precisely because people were absent.
It didn’t feel tragic.
Instead, it felt like
a European countryside preserved by a miracle.
In that moment, the thought came naturally.
“This is where I can make the watches I envision.”
The long-held idea of a “Japanese Geneva”
and the scenery before my eyes
clicked into place.
In 2022, I moved to Odaka.
Watch the Movement of Fukushima
Photo: The meaning behind the name Fukushima Watch Company.
The name Fukushima Watch Company carries two meanings.
One is simple:
we are a watch company based in Fukushima.
The other lies in the word “watch” itself—
to observe, to pay attention.
“We want people to watch what is happening in Fukushima.”
That wish is embedded in our name.
The watchmaking knowledge I gained in Switzerland,
and the miraculous landscape I encountered here—
When those two meet,
what kind of story will emerge?
In the next story,
I will introduce our very first watch, Odaka,
created with colors drawn from this land itself.
Broccoli green.
Chili pepper red.
Unusual names, perhaps—
each carrying deep respect for this place.
Watch the movement of Fukushima.
A region evolving while living alongside nature.