Every part of the movement within Early and Mid Period Wadokei was hand made without machine tools. This is the reason the makers were not called “Tokei-ya” (clock makers) but “Tokei-shi” (Clock-smiths).

A Japanese clocksmith made all parts of a Wadokei. Specialization among craftsmen regarding the production of single parts of Wadokei did not develop in old Japan in the way it did in Europe.  Exclusions to this would have been some decorative processes such as makie. It is generally believed that it took well over a year for a Tokei-shi to produce a Wadokei. It is said that some of the famous makers produced less than ten clocks during their lifetime.

As dials, ornamental pillars, and similar parts could not be made solely by hand, it is evident that an instrument such as “Clockmakers Turns” were used.  In 1851, Hisashige Tanaka (of Mannen-dokei fame) advertised that for his jimei-sho: “The body of the clock is made by lathe (senban), a device that I invented.”  Hisashige was reputed at that time to have been the inventor of the lathe and also to have invented a lathe to turn an ellipse.

Designs of various Wadokei were exhibited in shops, and they were made in Nagasaki, Kyoto, Osaka, Yedo, Sendai, etc. ; but how far back the work of the Tokei-shi became a recognized craft does not appear, and the absence of signatures in most Wadokei leaves the matter in doubt.

In the 1830’s there were Tokei-shi in different cities who produced clocks of novel shapes and of beautiful finishes.  These hand-made clocks were an indication of the art and skill which the Japanese craftsman had attained.