Kintaro Hattori

• Name — Kintarō Hattori • Born — 21 November 1860 • Birthplace — Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Edo Period Japan • Died — 1 March 1934 • Place of death — Tokyo, Empire of Japan • Known for — Founder of Seiko • Occupation — Watchmaker, businessman

Kintarō Hattori was born in Uneme-cho, Kyōbashi, Tokyo, on November 21, 1860, to a well-established family of merchants. At age thirteen, he was initiated in commercial and technical training and was engaged the following year by Kobayashi Denjiro, one of the main watch and clock traders in Japan, where he began his first internship at the Kameda Clock Shop. In 1877, he opened 'Hattori Clock Repair Shop' in the Ginza area.

In 1881, Hattori established his first business "K. Hattori & Co.", opening his own watchmaking shop. At 25 years old, K. Hattori initiated trade with the Swiss firms based in Yokohama, focusing on wholesaling and retailing of imported Swiss timepieces. After almost two decades of retailing Swiss watches from foreign firms, Hattori decided to manufacture his own watches locally, establishing a watchmaking factory in Tokyo called "Seikosha". Following the great success of his first Japanese manufactured timepieces, he traveled to Europe to inspect and purchase machinery tools to keep up with western technology and productivity. With great success, Hattori returned to Japan with new watchmaking equipment and several new production lines were born as a consequence. At age 35, he launched a line of pocket watches called the "Timekeeper" and just a few years later released his first line of alarm clocks, in 1899. By 1905, Hattori had expanded his trading operations all over Japan as well as Shanghai and Hong Kong, and becoming the largest watch and clock dealer in Japan. In 1913, when Hattori was 53 years old, Seikosha manufactured and introduced the first Japanese wristwatch: the "Laurel." In 1917, K. Hattori & Co. was converted to a joint-stock corporation Kabushiki-gaisha Hattori Tokeiten (currently Seiko Group Corporation). In 1924, the "Seiko" brand was launched. His company later revolutionized watchmaking with the introduction of the first quartz movement, becoming one of the world's largest watch manufacturers. Hattori died on 1934, aged 73, in Tokyo, Japan.