A time of Peace

“COUNTING TIME BACKWARDS HAS ITS
ORIGINS IN CANDLE CLOCKS.”

The Edo period followed several hundred years of civil war and was the most formative era in Japan’s history. It lasted from 1603 to 1868 and was a time of peace in which art, culture and the economy could flourish. This was thanks primarily to sakoku – Japan’s isolationist policy, which was intended to minimise foreign influence and preserve the country’s stability.

Edo, now Tokyo, was a charming, unimportant fishing village with narrow streets lined with closely spaced wooden houses. Weak light poured out onto the streets through sliding doors made of paper; people moved around on foot, in rickshaws and on horsedrawn carts. The atmosphere was bustling but orderly. The scent of fresh fish, rice and green tea mingled with incense from the temples. Cultural life flourished, especially in the cities. Kabuki theatre, woodprints and haikus reached new heights. Society was organized around a rigid hierarchy. The samurai were at the top, followed by peasants, craftsmen and merchants. The people outside of these four proud classes were the lowest groups, which were considered untouchable and included tanners, undertakers and outsiders like beggars and entertainers.

SETTING YOUR CLOCK TO THE SUN

Clocks and watches played an important role in this period of order and discipline. Unlike our western timepieces, which divide the day up into 24 equal hours (“fixed hour system”), in the traditional Japanese time system, the hours differed in length depending on the season (“temporal hour system”). A day was divided up into six toki (periods) between sunrise and sunset and another six between sunset and sunrise. Because the length of the days and nights differed, so too did the lengths of the time units. In the summer, the toki were longer during the day and shorter at night and vice versa in winter. The equinoxes were the only days when there was no difference. For the sake of simplicity, the toki were named after the signs of the Chinese zodiac.

A bit unusual for us in the West: Noon or midnight was hour number 9, and from there the Japanese hours counted backwards to 4. Counting backwards like this has its origins in candle clocks, which marked the passage of time by burning down. The fact that the clock only counted down to 4 and not to 1 is due to the fact that the 3, 2 and 1 chimes were used as calls to prayer in Buddhism. This is why the numbers started with 9 and not with 6.

The characters on the Swetman pocket watch in the Beyer Watch and Clock Museum therefore do not stand for 1 through 12, as we might guess, but rather for midnight, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, or noon, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4.

MYSTERIOUS PROVENANCE

Due to its shape and thickness, this type of pocket watch is referred to as an oignon pocket watch. It was manufactured in 1750, evidently for the Japanese market; however, to this day it is unclear whether or not the watch ever made its way to Japan or if it even left Europe. Likewise, we don’t have any real information about connections between London-based watchmaker Thomas Swetman and Japan. What’s certain, however, is that René Beyer purchased the Edo watch for our museum at a Sotheby’s auction in 2023. Its previous owner could not be determined. The Beyer Watch and Clock Museum is home to other Japanese clocks and watches that can be viewed upon request.

WORLD-FAMOUS COLLECTION
The Beyer Clock and Watch Museum is home to one of the most important collections in the world. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 2.00–6.00pm.

Beyer Clock and Watch Museum