Time to explore Japan

Someone once told me that "time" was the most valuable entity in the world and must be utilised at every opportunity.

To be honest, at that time in my life I distinctly remember disagreeing.

You see, when I thought about what was important in my life I came up with friends, family, money, sports and having fun.

But when I actually took a moment to think about it, I realised that without time, none of the above is possible.

All of the things I originally listed can be replaced in one way or another, but time cannot.

Once those second hands have ticked, you can never have that second again for the rest of your life.

Time is the one thing we cannot control. It can't be stopped, slowed down or saved and we all have a limited amount of it while we are here on earth.

With this in mind, I try to make the most of every hour I have.

I pack as much as possible into each week, try and experience new and different things when I have the chance and always do my best to be on time.

And up until last week I considered myself to be a pretty punctual person.

That was until I was introduced to the most time-conscious nation on the planet — the Japanese.

It's a world where nobody is late for anything. Everything runs like clockwork. Trains and buses pull into the stations at the exact minute it says on the timetable and nothing is left to chance.

Perfection

To the rest of the world it appears the Japanese have mastered precision timing. And yet, for one Japan-based company, near perfection was just not good enough.

Seiko has been around in various forms since 1881.

And not content with conceiving, developing and eventually producing the world's first quartz wristwatch in 1969, one of the most accurate watches in history, they have strived to produce the world's most precise timepiece.

Using an entirely new system of time regulation, this new concept is the most important new movement created by Seiko since the quartz Astron.

It is based on the foundation of all mechanical watches, a mainspring, but uses new advances to maintain perfect timing throughout its life.

In real terms this amounts to the loss or gain of just one second per day — a figure which has never been achieved before. And it's name? It's aptly called Spring Drive.

Seiko has been working on the Spring Drive for more than 28 years and this year, following an official launch in Singapore in September, has decided to let the UAE experience the phenomenon.

Spring Drive will be available in shops across the UAE by Christmas courtesy of Al Futtaim Watches and Jewellery.

So, in true Japanese style, Seiko invited me to the home of precision timing to witness the clockwork lifestyle for myself.

And until you've actually seen it you probably wouldn't believe it.

I arrived in Japan at 5.15pm local time and from here onwards my trip, which included tours around the two main Seiko plants, literally ran like clockwork.

On arrival at the New Otani Hotel in central Tokyo, myself and the group of journalists I was travelling with were met in reception and presented with a package with our name printed on it.

Intrigued, I opened it up and found everything I would need in the next 24 hours — sorted and presented in the order I would require each document.

The itinerary said I should be in the hotel lobby at 7.35am the next day ready for my trip to the Seiko head office in downtown Tokyo. And believe me, when they say 7.35am they mean 7.35am.

I arrived in reception at 7.33am (I think), and thought I had time to just pop back to my room to grab my camera.

Nope, guess again! I walked into reception and that was it, we were off on a route march through the hotel towards the bus which was waiting, driver raring to go, outside in the rain.

And, as if by magic, I felt a raindrop on my head and seconds later I was handed a grey umbrella for the trip. It's incredible.

There's no fussing, or discussion about it — everything is thought about, considered and sorted before you even have a chance to ask.

That day there was a presentation at Seiko's head office in Tokyo, a city tour and a welcome dinner.

Throughout the entire day we were whisked from A to B with precision planning and excellent timing.

We visited a temple called the Sensoji temple which symbolises the district of Asakusa.

The area is popular with seasonal events and for its good old-fashioned atmosphere.
People throng the temple all year round and today was no exception.

The Asakusa-jinja shrine adjacent to the temple annually conducts the Sanja-matsuri, one of the oldest festive celebrations in Tokyo.

On the second day we moved to Shiojiri by JR (Japanese Rail) train and visited the Seiko plant to see just how exclusive the Spring Drive watch really is.

Day two also allowed us to experience a night in a typical Japanese hotel, called a Ryokan, which had an Onsen, or hot spring, running through the building for the use of guests.

The Onsen is a unique experience with separate baths for both men and women.

You are required to remove all of your clothes, wash your entire hair and body and slip into the natural water which reaches about 40 degrees — a temperature maintained 12 months of the year.

The Ryokan was called the Hotel Beniya, and is situated in the north of Japan on the Suwa lake.

The volcanic Japanese islands are blessed with 2,200 areas where hot mineral waters bubble up from the ground.

Once again we arrived and were given our orders to be at dinner at 6.30 (sharp) dressed in Yukata — a typical Japanese casual kimono.

The meals included a large amount of raw meat and fish as you may expect, however many of the dishes were also soup based.

More than 16 courses were brought to our tables where we sat on the floor.

A group of local drummers, called the Suwa-Jin-Daiko, arrived to provide the entertainment.

Bullet train

The next day saw us travel from Suwa aboard the JR train back to Tokyo before taking the Shinkansen, or the bullet train as it's often dubbed, to Morioka — the home of Seiko's second plant.

The train travels at more than 275kmh and is never late.

The Japanese pride themselves on the fact that not one train has ever been late, or early for that matter, since they started running in the 1960s.

We were even told of a tragic accident on a conventional JR train when the train driver lost control because he was speeding to try and make up a 90 second delay.

There is no doubt that all the journalists who attended the trip were overwhelmed by the precision, accuracy and skill which goes into making life run on schedule in Japan.

Due to the regular nature of the public transport system, locals are expected to get notes from the train station to prove the train was late if it ever rarely occurs.

The Shinkansen took us to Morioka to visit the second Seiko plant.

Later that evening we were shuttled to a second Ryokan, nestled at the foot of the mountains in northern Japan.

And once again we were provided with our orders to dress in Yukata and be at dinner at 6.45pm prompt. You just learn not to be late!

On arrival, I opened my bedroom door and saw the futon on the floor and sat and had a cup of green tea.

The room was a traditional Japanese style complete with tatami mat covering the floors along with a table and chairs laid up for tea.

At dinner the food was very similar to that we tried and tasted the night before but the entertainment was slightly different.

Tonight we had dancers and singers in the form of Shizuku-