Hajime Asaoka began watchmaking as a self-taught practitioner in Tokyo after a career in industrial design, completing his first wristwatch tourbillon prototype around 2009. As one of the few AHCI (Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants) members based in Japan, Asaoka built a reputation through the 2010s as one of the country's most serious independent watchmakers, producing in-house complications - tourbillons, chronographs, and other complex movements - in the workshop tradition that defines AHCI membership.
Asaoka's signature references include Project T (his tourbillon, in 38mm steel cases with hand-finished movements visible through sapphire casebacks), Project Chronograph (an in-house chronograph with central seconds and instantaneously-jumping minute counter), Pendulum, and Tsunami. Annual production is extremely small (single-digit pieces per year for the more complex references), and pricing starts around USD 100,000 for the Project T rising to USD 200,000+ for special variants. The brand operates from a small Tokyo workshop with Asaoka personally handling design, prototyping, and assembly.
Beyond the eponymous brand, Asaoka founded Kurono Tokyo in 2019 as the accessible-priced sister brand, producing time-only and chronograph references using Miyota / Seiko-base movements at prices in the USD 1,500-3,500 range. Kurono Tokyo dial designs and aesthetic codes derive directly from Asaoka's haute-horlogerie work, creating a clear pyramid where the eponymous brand sits at the top of the Japanese indie tier and Kurono Tokyo serves as the entry point. The two brands together represent one of the most coherent modern Japanese watchmaking programmes.
