Casio G-Shock at 40: An unbroken promise
Old tech retains fan base for watch designed to withstand a rough life
Yamagata prefecture, in the north of Japan's main island, Honshu, is known for its cherries. And when you disembark at the Sakuranbo-Higashine train station, they won't let you forget it: There are large posters of cherries, a cherry-shaped monument, a cherry-themed souvenir shop and even images of cherries affixed to the train itself.
But Higashine has more than just cherries. It is where many of the Casio G-Shock watches come to life. It was the dream of its creator, Kikuo Ibe: a watch whose case and movement would never break.
In April, the chunky and durable G-Shock — the focus of so many enthusiastic watch forums — will turn 40. I decided to visit the factory to see how it was created.
So how does Ibe feel now that his baby is reaching middle age?
“The original target users of the first G-Shock were people working hard outside,” he wrote in an email. “The success as it is
now was entirely unexpected and surprising.”
Ibe, 70, still works at the company's research and development center in Hamura, a city in the Tokyo area, so it was natural for him to add, “We hope you'll be looking forward to the evolution of G-Shock in the future.”
Certainly the model's fans are. As Andy McIntyre, a British collector who posts on Instagram as @gshockin17, wrote, “It's a relief to keep it simple and appreciate a watch for being a watch! Why would I look on my phone for the
time when I can soak in the details of a G-Shock and that classic screen?”
Casio and G-Shock
At first, my visit to Yamagata Casio, as the factory in Higashine is called, seemed a lot like stops at other large Japanese watch manufacturers: I had to take off my shoes and don slippers, watch a presentation on the company, and walk along what seemed like endless long halls. Except the whole experience was infused with a lot of playful good humor, a Casio hallmark.
Shinichi Kimura, president of Yamagata Casio, welcomed me with fun facts about the prefecture. (Did you know fried chicken consumption per capita in Yamagata is the highest in Japan, with 64 pieces per month? Or that the prefecture holds a Guinness World Record for the most soup — imoni nabe, a hot pot dish — served in an eighthour period?)
The prefecture's connection to the first G-Shock was part of the recitation: “The history of GShock is the history of Yamagata Casio.”
And both are woven into the history of its parent, Casio Computer Co., a multinational electronics manufacturing corporation that, among its many products, produced 38 million watches in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2022, and reported watch sales of $1.1 billion — making it Asia's largest watch manufacturer by sales.
Yamagata Casio is among its subsidiaries.
The factory covers a little more than 7.5 acres in seven vast buildings; it was established in 1979, and the newest building was constructed in 2018.