Senri Oe's watch choices are interesting. His Hamilton digital watch stands out.

Since his debut in 1983, Senri Oe has released numerous hit songs and has been active on the front lines for many years as a singer-songwriter, lyricist, composer, and arranger. Alongside his musical activities, he has also showcased his multifaceted talents as an actor, appearing in many films and television dramas. However, since 2008, he has suspended his activities in Japan and moved to New York City alone. What kind of days has he been leading there? This time, we would like to focus on a watch that Senri Oe once chose.

The long-awaited new album "HOMEWORK"

　On September 4, 2026, Senri Oe released his latest album, "HOMEWORK." This album, entirely composed of newly written songs, features tracks self-recorded at his home alongside tracks recorded at Bunker Studios in New York with Matt Closey (bass) and Ross Pederson (drums). Based on jazz, it incorporates diverse musical elements such as opera, blues, Latin, and bossa nova, and for longtime fans, it has been generating buzz since its release as an album that showcases his flexible musicality and confirms the current state of Senri Oe as an artist.

　Coinciding with the release of his new album, Senri Oe held solo concerts throughout Japan from July to August this year. Having built a career as a jazz pianist, he says he feels like he's on a tour to inherit the name of "the third Senri Oe." While his current performance style is centered on instrumental music, in the past he has also planned stages that incorporated vocal songs, inviting artists such as the late Sheila Jordan, Becca Stevens, and from Japan, Ryoko Moriyama.

　As a surprise during the encore, he sometimes sings a snippet of one of his past hit songs while playing the piano. It's a delightful touch that delights fans with just the intro phrase. Furthermore, in recent years he has expanded his field of activity by engaging in writing activities through serializations on the web, such as "note."

Who is the artist "Senri Oe"?

　Who exactly is Senri Oe? From the 1980s to the early 90s, during the transition from the Showa to the Heisei era, he was a cutting-edge hitmaker who handled all aspects of songwriting, composing, and singing himself. His hits included "Kakko Warui Furarekata," which became the theme song for a drama, and he was so popular that he even appeared as an actor in trendy dramas. Furthermore, he provided songs to top idols such as Seiko Matsuda and Hikaru Genji, establishing a solid position as a singer-songwriter.

　However, at the height of his success, Senri Oe decided to reset everything at the age of 47 and moved to New York alone. He enrolled in the prestigious New School's Jazz & Contemporary Music program, but the path was far from easy. Initially, he couldn't even pass the audition to take practical classes. Nevertheless, he persevered through many hardships, working alongside young people in their twenties, and finally graduated after four years.

　Why did he make such a big decision? There were several reasons. One was that he was drifting away from the peak of pop songwriting. He said it was becoming increasingly difficult to find the right balance to express a reality appropriate for his age. In an interview, Senri Oe reflected that for him in his 30s, it was also a period of trial and error as a singer-songwriter.

　Then, in his 40s, a small lipoma was discovered on his right foot. He was struck by excruciating pain on a plane to Finland for a Christmas concert brochure photoshoot, and underwent surgery to remove it at a local emergency hospital. Although the condition subsided for a while, the tumor recurred and he had to undergo repeated removals after returning to Japan. At that time, his father's words came to mind: "Life is short. Do what you want to do while you still can." He took those words to heart and, after much thought about "what he would do if he were to die tomorrow," he arrived at jazz, something he had admired since childhood.

"When I looked to the future, I couldn't imagine myself in my sixties, wearing a red vest and singing my old hit songs." It is this inner strength that has driven Senri Oe to take a new path.

Discover a watch form you can't miss.

　This photo is an alternate cover image for their 34th single, "Hyperactive Dinosaur," released in 1997. It was posted nearly 30 years after the song's release, prompting nostalgic comments from fans such as, "When was this photo taken? (lol)."

This photograph, which strongly retains the image of Senri Oe in his 30s when he was at the forefront of pop music, exudes a different kind of charm from the current Senri Oe, who has restarted his career as a jazz pianist. Looking at this nostalgic photograph again, what immediately caught my eye was the shape of the watch on his left wrist. The rounded, cushion-shaped case and its somewhat retro yet futuristic appearance still look fresh to today's eyes.

What is a "Hamilton Pulsar"?

　This watch is likely a Hamilton Pulsar. This model, released in 1970, was the world's first LED digital watch. It has no moving parts such as hands or springs, and is silent, yet when you press the button on the side of the case, red numbers light up in LEDs to display the time, giving it a futuristic appearance. It featured a groundbreaking mechanism for its time, in which an integrated circuit sensed the vibrations of a quartz crystal and converted them into the time. Its name comes from the fact that neutron stars called "pulsars" in space continuously emit high-precision pulses.

　At the time, Hamilton was an American company before becoming part of the current Swiss-owned Swatch Group, and it was making a significant impact on the global watch market with its free-thinking approach and technological innovations. Hamilton is also known as a brand with strong ties to Hollywood films, and this model is said to have been influenced to some extent by the futuristic design concept depicted in the 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey."

　And to mark the 50th anniversary of the original model's release, the reissue model "PSR" was introduced. Based on the "P2" released in 1973, it reproduces the iconic wide cushion-shaped case in the same size as the original. While the crystal has been updated from ruby ​​to sapphire crystal, the retro-futuristic look remains unchanged.

　As a current item that inherits that style, I would like to introduce "PSR
This is the "(Ref. H52414130)" model. It features a 40.8mm x 34.7mm stainless steel cushion-type case and a hybrid display combining LCD and OLED. The mechanism that illuminates a red 7-segment LED when a button on the side of the case is pressed conveys the playful spirit of the original model.

What likely resonated with Senri Oe was the powerful presence of the Hamilton Pulsar, which evokes a sense of anticipation for the future. It's also interesting how the image of this watch seems to align with his sense of style, which has always been playful yet constantly surprises the world with its innovative approach.

　Next month, Senri Oe is scheduled to perform at the prestigious New York jazz club "Birdland." Furthermore, he has performances scheduled at four venues across Japan starting in January of next year. When Oe was a junior high school student, he became engrossed in jazz, and the first thing he got his hands on was Chris Connor's album "Things Lullaby of Birdland," the first track on which was the famous song "Birdland Lullaby" written by pianist George Shearing for the jazz club "Birdland."

He probably never imagined back then that he would later stand on the Birdland stage and thrill New York audiences. Shedding the shell of pop music, the "third generation Senri Oe" continues to create in the new realm of jazz—we look forward to watching his evolution unfold.