Matsumoto Koshiro: The elegant white color of this dial is quite impressive. It doesn’t give a feeling of coldness — rather, it gives a sense of warmth. When we think of horo (porcelain enamel), we readily link it to daily necessities. So, it is amazing to learn that you have applied horo to such a precision machinery component as a dial.

Mitsuru Yokosawa: When I began working on this project, Seiko told me that the company manufactured Japan’s first wristwatch, the Laurel, in 1913. To my surprise, horo was used for its dial at the time. As a craftsman, I felt convinced that it would be worthwhile giving new life to the century-old technology. The dial of the Laurel watch hasn’t faded at all despite more than 100 years elapsing. I was enthralled anew by the charm of horo.

Matsumoto: It’s natural for you to get fired up because your mission was to create a new watch face. What part of the manufacturing process was the most difficult?

Yokosawa: The dial is just about 30 mm in diameter. What’s more, it has [two] sub-dials. Therefore, I concentrated on continuing to always apply an even thickness of glaze to the metal surfaces with the utmost care and attention. When producing enamel tableware, different thicknesses of glaze may be passable to a certain extent. In the art of watch manufacturing, uneven thicknesses of glaze can never be acceptable because hand movements may consequently be hindered. As such, I needed to follow a set of strict requirements that specified the exact thickness of the glaze layer to be fused throughout the manufacturing process. On the other hand, to get a distinct white color, I had to melt and fuse the glaze securely with the metal surface each time. To that end, when I sprayed the glaze, I had to keep adjusting the thickness with the accuracy of 0.01 mm. In the finishing stage of glaze treatment, I usually found myself immersed in a world of senses.

Matsumoto: Your craftsmanship requires constant accuracy. In that process, like kabuki performances, experience matters. When I play the same role in a monthlong run, how I feel physically and how audiences react to my performances vary every day. I know that it’s very demanding to keep playing the same role in exactly the same way over a monthlong period.

Yokosawa: I know what you mean. I, too, make every effort day in, day out — through trial and error — to deliver identical products. The finish of a product is prone to be affected by weather. Even within a factory equipped with a state-of-art air conditioning system, the humidity goes down on a sunny summer day, a situation that causes the state of dryness of the glaze to change. Although we have scientific data to deal with such a situation, we still have to fine-tune adjustments during the final part of the glazing process by gauging subtle changes in moisture levels, especially when it suddenly begins raining. Furthermore, I think that the finishes inevitably change, depending on how I feel on a given day. Anyway, nothing can be perfectly accomplished according to a manual. The sure solution is to keep gaining experience.

Matsumoto: The outbreak of COVID-19 has made it difficult to offer usual performances in theaters. We alternatively provided the first-ever online kabuki program named “Zoom Kabuki ‘CHUSHINGURA,’” which was streamed this summer. We utilized the Zoom video communications app to enable both performers and audiences to avoid the so-called 3Cs — closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings. Indeed, it was an unprecedented challenge for us to apply the video communications technology to the kabuki world. At the end of the day, I think, it turned out to be a good opportunity for us to explore the potential of kabuki to change with the times. As you show how wholeheartedly you have devoted yourself to the application of the tradition-rich horo enameling technology on the “Presage” stage, I’d also like to keep carving out the future of the kabuki world.