Puzzle Me This

These stunning treasure boxes caught my eye on oka-craft, an Artfire shop. The lovely wood piecing Hiroyuki does reminds me of quilting patterns. These intricate designs are made with different woods and the colors are all natural. I still can't figure out the Rubik's Cube puzzle, so these artistic brain teasers would present me with quite a challenge. The size of a puzzle box is measured with a traditional Japanese length measuring system called SUN where 1 sun is about 1.22 inches or 3.09 centimeters.

The art of crafting a Japanese puzzle box has been around for over 100 years and is called Himitsu Bako in Japan. Each box must be turned, pushed, and moved in a very specific way. It is impossible to open unless the exact steps designed for each box are followed. It can take any number of moves depending on the cunning of the box designer. The wooden designs are made in large blocks then delicately shaved. These shavings are then glued to adorn the box surfaces. I thought of how designs are made in taffy or Fimo clay rolls, but this is wood, and all those little bits have to be perfectly glued in place – amazing! My husband says this is a common wood working technique, marquetry, for making fancy designs on guitars.

Hiroyuki makes these incredible show stoppers in Japan and ships internationally. He has a website and can be found on etsy. These would be great conversation pieces on a desk or coffee table. Which end is up? What is concealed within? How do I get it open? No worries. You won't have to spend weeks discovering the trick. Each box comes with instructions.