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THE GIFT OF TIME is a 24-minute documentary project produced by Seiko that explores Japan’s relationship with time through its culture, natural environment and seasonal rhythms. Released on October 23, 2024, it brings together four cultural figures and Seiko Group Chairman and CEO Shinji Hattori.
What is Seiko’s The Gift of Time documentary about?
Seiko presents the film as a reflection on how time is experienced in Japan—not only as something measured, but through nature, the present moment, seasonal change and the passage of years. Its stated themes include Japan’s natural environment and the rhythms of its four seasons. That is the project’s framing, rather than an independent assessment of Japanese culture.
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Seiko announced the film’s release on October 23, 2024, describing it as a 24-minute short documentary. Chairman and CEO Shinji Hattori said the project was intended to explore Japan’s distinctive relationship with time and to express the company’s commitment to cultural heritage.
Who appears in The Gift of Time?
The film brings together four people whose work spans architecture, contemporary art, music and public cultural life, alongside Seiko Group’s chairman and CEO.
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- Kengo Kuma, architect
- Hiroshi Sugimoto, contemporary artist
- Shunichi Tokura, composer and Commissioner of Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs
- MISIA, singer
- Shinji Hattori, Seiko Group Chairman and CEO
Seiko credits Paula Chowles as director and Godfrey Dadich Partners as producer. Those credits identify it as a Seiko-produced cultural documentary project, not an independently produced observational documentary.
Where was the film made?
Seiko’s project page names six filming locations in Japan:
- Daitoku-ji Temple’s Zuiho-in Monastery
- Murin-an Garden
- Todai-ji Temple
- Enoura Observatory
- The Seiko Museum Ginza
- Zuisho-ji Temple
How did the project extend beyond the film?
Seiko’s 2024 Value Report says the project launched in July 2024 with the aim of communicating Japanese luxury internationally. The company also described the July reopening of the Wako Main Store basement floor in SEIKO HOUSE as “Arts and Culture,” then held a world premiere for the completed film in October. These statements place the documentary within a broader cultural initiative by the company.
After its October 23 release, Seiko reported a screening at a GS9 Club event in New York on November 29, 2024, and published a report on the world-premiere event on March 21, 2025. It also reported that the film was shortlisted in the Branded Content & Entertainment: Standalone/Single Execution category at the 2025 AICP Next Awards.
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Seiko says the film screened at Salon du Japon à Paris from January 23 to 25, 2026. The related Paris event included a tea house designed by Kengo Kuma and connected to the idea of ichigo ichie—“once in a lifetime”—as Seiko describes it. In an October 6, 2026 page about the New York exhibition A MOMENT OF MA, inspired by the film and the Japanese concept of ma, Kuma described the Japanese tea house as architecture devoted to sensing the flow of time.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can you watch it?
Seiko’s official project page is the source for the film and its accompanying project information. The pages reviewed for this article do not identify a DVD, Blu-ray, book or other physical edition.
What the film is—and is not
THE GIFT OF TIME is best understood as a branded cultural documentary: Seiko produced it to explore themes of time and Japanese culture and to support the company’s stated effort to share Japanese luxury internationally. The available information establishes its runtime, participants, credits, locations and associated events; it does not provide independent audience research or a measured account of the film’s cultural impact.
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