In the past decade, Japan has risen in the ranks of independent watchmakers. Japanese artisans are now producing timepieces that can rival elite manufacturers from Switzerland. However, unlike the Swiss juggernauts such as Rolex, these independents operate in small workshops, often crafting only a handful of watches each year. What has brought them worldwide acclaim is an obsessive dedication to detail, design rooted in tradition, and innovation that defies their scale.
Three names in particular keep popping up in watch forums and industry journals: Naoya Hida, Hajime Asaoka, and Masahiro Kikuno. These watchmakers have elevated Japanese watchmaking to another level, each bringing a distinct philosophy and style to the luxury end of the market.
Naoya Hida: Timeless Design With Meticulous Detail
Naoya Hida spent decades promoting Swiss luxury brands in Japan before founding his own in 2018. His watches are distinguished by their classical design, drawing inspiration from architecture, fashion, art, and even automobiles.
His reinvention of simplicity through an uncompromising focus on hand-finishing and craftsmanship sets Hida apart. His time-only watches, often using modified Swiss base movements, are elevated through subtle technical tweaks.
Hida’s 2025 new releases include an expansion into a perpetual calendar wristwatch. The custom perpetual calendar module used in the new NH TYPE 6A is manufactured by Dubois Dépraz, a Swiss company renowned for producing modules for many prestigious watch brands. It took Naoya Hida’s engraver five times longer to engrave the complications. Every surface is intentional. Every numeral is meticulously placed. In addition, manual-winding perpetual calendars are extremely rare, adding to their exclusivity.
Hida’s approach to watchmaking is consistent with that of other Japanese independents. “Since the inception of this project, our goal has been to produce and sell a diverse range of unique and beautiful timepieces in limited quantities”, Hida says. “This philosophy remains completely unchanged to this day.”
Design improvements are made yearly based on Hida’s personal experience wearing each watch. “Whenever a model is completed, I wear it myself,” he notes. “Through this process, new ideas and improvements naturally emerge.”
Design-wise, Hida leans into engraved dials made from German silver, with numerals carved by hand and filled with lacquer. The result is a dial surface that gives his minimalist aesthetic added depth. With production limited to about 100 watches annually and growing international recognition, the process is personal and prioritizes long-term collectors. All prospective collectors must first apply every May and approach the process patiently, as demand far exceeds supply and the waitlist is often long.
Hajime Asaoka: Japan’s Equivalent To Philippe Dufour
If Naoya Hida is known for his classic designs, Hajime Asaoka is known for his engineering expertise. A former product designer, Asaoka designs and manufactures his own movements from scratch in a Tokyo workshop, using manual lathes and mills. “Hajime Asaoka is arguably the most famous among the growing number of independent Japanese watchmakers,” says Europa Star, one of the oldest watch publications in the world. His watchmaking is often compared to that of masters like Philippe Dufour.
His most famous watch, the Tsunami, incorporates a 15mm balance wheel, which is unusually large for a wristwatch. This larger size contributes to its exceptional timekeeping stability.
In 2009, he introduced the first Japanese-made tourbillon wristwatch, a complication designed to improve timekeeping accuracy by compensating for the effects of gravity. Asaoka’s innovation was the first person to use ball bearings instead of traditional rubies in the carriage. This novel approach to reducing friction helps high-end movements’ precision, durability, and efficiency.
Each component, from bridges to hands, is hand-finished to exacting standards, placing Asaoka’s creations among the best in the world in engineering and aesthetics. His second brand, Kurono Tokyo, has made his design philosophy more accessible while keeping his high-end work exclusive to only a few pieces per year.
Asaoka’s watches are available only through direct inquiry via his website. Communication is limited but direct, and each piece is made to order.
Masahiro Kikuno: Hand-Craftsmanship Embracing Japanese Traditions
Masahiro Kikuno is another well-known pioneer in Japanese horology. He gained global recognition for his Wadokei wristwatch, replicating Japan’s ancient temporal hour system. The temporal system divides daylight into six variable-length periods that vary with the season. The mechanical complexity required to shift the period markers daily is enormous.
Beyond the complication, Kikuno’s workshop practices are a statement in themselves. He uses virtually no computer-controlled machinery to automate the manufacturing of intricate watch components. Instead, he crafts parts by hand using treadle-powered tools and oil lamps.
A Kikuno watch is just as much a work of art as a timepiece. Each watch bears subtle signs of its start-to-finish handmade construction. Production is so limited that only two to four watches leave his shop each year, making each a rare and deeply personal artifact.
With just 2–4 watches produced annually, the process is slow, personal, and collaborative. To commission a Kikuno watch, you must contact him directly.
Market Performance: Scarcity Outperforms Mass Production
While the WatchCharts Overall Market Index has declined for 16 consecutive quarters, falling 33% from its peak in March 2022, prices for models from these craftsmen have held up exceptionally well.
Naoya Hida watches routinely sell for a premium over retail on the secondary market. Collectors lucky enough to obtain early models have seen prices more than double. Given the limited production, with only 336 watches across 18 references created since inception, demand far outstrips supply.
While most collectors buy to keep, not flip, Naoya Hida watches have significantly appreciated in value on the secondary market. Some models have sold for multiples of their original retail price. For example, the NH Type 2B sold for $35,700 in March 2024 at a Phillips auction, a 72% premium to its approximate $30,000 retail price.
Hajime Asaoka’s Tsunami and Chronograph models also benefit from high demand. In 2023, an Asaoka Chronograph sold at a Geneva auction for over $120,000, well above its original price.
Pieces from Masahiro Kikuno are scarce on the secondary market. When his Wadokei wristwatch surfaced at Phillips in 2021, it attracted global attention and sold for approximately $75,000, highlighting his work’s rarity and cultural significance.
“I am very sorry. There is no chance to purchase my watches at this time. All my watches are sold on order,” Kikuno has said. “I will be taking orders next year.” The same could be said about the other Japanese independents. That level of demand demonstrates the confidence and international recognition of the brands and should continue to support secondary market prices.
The Swiss Have Competition From Tokyo
What unites these three Japanese independent watchmakers is a commitment to technological and design innovation beyond complications or branding. Whether through Asaoka’s in-house engineering, Kikuno’s cultural reinterpretation of time, or Hida’s perfectionist minimalism, these makers have put Japanese horology on the map, even with such low production.
In the independent watchmaking world, scarcity is a standard feature. “We have no intention of changing our way of doing things,” Hida says. “Mass-producing a single model might result in greater profits, but it’s not suitable for us.” That philosophy resonates with collectors seeking uniqueness, not mass popularity.
In an era when some Swiss luxury brands rely on legacy more than innovation, Japan’s independent watchmakers are offering something different. In a world where storytelling, individuality, and scarcity matter more than ever, watches from these Japanese artisans may be hard to find, but their impact on the industry is impossible to ignore.
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