produced by MITSUKOSHI WORLD WATCH GALLERY
TOKYO BASE President Tani: "A perfect balance between certainty and challenge" 2
Masamasa Hirota, Editor-in-Chief of Kronos Japan
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TOKYO BASE President Masato Tani
Even amidst the ongoing apparel recession, TOKYO BASE, which operates select clothing stores, has achieved remarkable growth. At the helm is CEO Masato Tani, 35 years old. Aiming to promote Japanese creations, the company operates the select shop STUDIOUS, the contemporary brand UNITED TOKYO, and the high-end casual brand PUBLIC TOKYO. Both brands are enjoying strong support from young people and are growing steadily. Tani is also enthusiastic about actively expanding overseas, promoting Japanese brands and Japanese craftsmanship to the world. The watch choices of this man, who is considered a rising star in the apparel industry, are in line with his brand strategy.
Hirota: Looking at the G-Shock collaborative models that Tani-san has worked on, you can see that he understands the essential appeal of styles, from edgy to classic, and has properly integrated mutual feedback. The result is not mediocre, but rather moderate. Mediocre means being in the middle without doing anything, but moderate means ultimately settling in due to the range of variation. This watch is a reflection of that. It looks very edgy, but in fact it is moderate.
Tani: I value the idea of subtraction, so when I think about something, I first come up with roughly 100 ideas, narrow them down to about 10, discard another 9, and finally adopt the one that's left. I value the process of blurring, in a sense, until I reach a conclusion, without losing sight of the axis or concept I had at the beginning.
Hirota: When you think about it, I guess I'm consistent with that.
Tani: Maybe it's because they don't do anything unnecessary. Vintage items aren't cheap, but they can be used for a longer period of time than buying a lot of new items.
Hirota: But are there any new watches you'd like to try?
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