Our story begins in the late Meiji and Taisho period years (early 1900s - late 1920s),
at the dawning of the modern timepiece industry in Japan.
Timepiece and jewelry dealer Kamekichi Yamazaki made a tour of pocket watch manufacturing sites in countries such as Switzerland and the U.S.
— then renowned for timepiece manufacturing — and returned with a strong desire to localize production of pocket watches.
In 1918, he established the Shokosha Watch Research Institute, forerunner of Citizen Watch,
going on to found Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. in 1930, and releasing the first men's wristwatch (10-1/2F) a year later.
The company enjoyed a smooth start helped by the public and private sentiment of the time which favored purchase of domestically-produced goods.
There were so many orders it could not keep up with demand,
and ended up expanding the Yodobashi factory and building a new factory in Tanashi City.

From around 1961, CITIZEN began external sales of machine tools, expanding into international sales channels also.
In October 1964, the Tanashi Factory was renamed Tanashi Manufacturing,
and as the company grew in scale it began making products other than timepieces,
culminating in five independent facilities making components, measurement instruments, precision machinery, office equipment, and trial manufacture.
Although the main priority was still responding to demands from the timepiece division,
they began delving into fields in which to leverage the micron-level precision machining technology
and mass production technology cultivated in the timepiece industry.

This period was characterized by the transition from mechanical to quartz timepieces.
The X-8, developed in 1966, represented a milestone — the first domestically-produced electronic wristwatch.
This dream watch employed a transistorized moving-coil-type balance wheel and ran for a year without stopping.
It outstripped sales of mechanical watches that had previously been top sellers,
and went on to become the hit product of the 70s.

In 1986, CITIZEN's wristwatch production volumes topped world figures
(calculated on annual movement production).
This was evidence of how CITIZEN had consistently developed quartz timepieces and other cutting-edge products
and had delivered reliable products both domestically and internationally.

In 1990, CITIZEN celebrated its 60-year anniversary
with the inauguration of the CITIZEN of the Year award.
This annual award, which recognizes citizens who have contributed to the development,
happiness, and beautification of their communities,
is a fitting institution given our company name.
Also bearing the company name is THE CITIZEN, a wristwatch launched in 1995.
Equipped with the best of CITIZEN's technology,
the watch was designed to be used for as long as possible,
with a free 10-year warranty and free checkups.

Aiming to increase the competitiveness of our various businesses which had developed in a diversified way,
such as timepieces, electronic devices, electronics, and industrial machine tools,
and in order to increase business efficiency across the Group,
reorganization toward a group corporate structure proceeds.
Citizen Watch and Citizen Trading merged in 2004, and the following year,
as well as the names of 11 group companies being changed,
five related companies became wholly-owned subsidiaries.
The Micro HumanTech logo was established as new group common branding.
In April 2007, the structure changed to a pure holding company.

In order to strengthen the CITIZEN Group,
in 2013 five group manufacturing companies and Citizen Watch manufacturing-related departments were integrated,
and in 2015, two device business companies were merged.
Additionally, in order to strengthen head office functions,
the three Watch, Holdings, and Business Expert companies were merged,
changing the trade name to Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. to mark the start of the new management structure.
In 2016, Eco-Drive One was launched. With a movement thickness of just 1.00 mm,
it represents the culmination of 40 years of Eco-Drive technology.