A Nagoya Clockmaker
Meiko Clock Co. grew from the Meikōsha Clock Manufacturing Works and operated in Nagoya, one of Japan's principal clockmaking centers. The company is better documented for household and novelty clocks than for specialized game equipment.
Meiko - Japan’s Multipurpose Game Clock
A Two-Player Mechanical Timer
The surviving game clock uses two independent hand-wound movements marked '2 JEWELS.' Top plungers alternately stop one movement and start the other, while winding, setting, and regulation controls sit on the rear.
Not Just a Chess Clock
Japanese sellers describe the device as a taikyoku dokei—a match or game clock. Its natural market therefore included shogi and go as well as Western chess.
Dating
No dated catalog has yet been found. The 1950s or early 1960s is the most defensible provisional range based on the company history and surviving design.
Historical Significance
Meiko broadens the history of the chess clock beyond Western chess. The same alternating-timer architecture could serve a Japanese ecosystem of competitive board games, making the object better understood as a multipurpose game clock than a chess-only product.