Sad Tempura - Karakuri Idea Contest 2016

The best Karakuri Idea Contest winners combine theme and puzzle.  Sad Tempura does so in a particularly satisfying and humorous way, showing an enlarged serving of a single piece of shrimp tempura.  This very rare puzzle has three parts: the shrimp tempura, the small bowl that you would dip it in, and the platform on which they both sit.  But there’s a problem: the tempura doesn’t fit in the dipping bowl.  The puzzle box solution is thematically connected to this conundrum.  The work is crafted from six different exotic woods.  All original packaging included.

Karakuri product description:

The tempura is too big and cannot fit on the dish. However, it's a disappointing shrimp tempura. You will get some sympathy. The size of the storage is also disappointing.

This work was produced by Karakuri Creation Group’s craftsmen, from a selected idea of “8th Karakuri Puzzle Idea Contest”.

Original idea by Yasuhiro Hashimoto

Hand-crafted by Yoh Kakuda (Karakuri Creation Group)

Size: 59×149×44mm

Material: Japanese Torreya, Karin, Cherry, Maple, Walnut, Kobushi Magnolia

Condition: There is a small nick on one edge of the shrimp tempura (see photo).  The puzzle must have sat out in daylight at the Hakone shop where it was purchased with the shrimp and dipping bowl sitting on top of the serving platform for quite some time, resulting in two slightly lighter regions in the wood on the platform piece that are only seen if you lift the pieces (see photo).  Neither impacts the puzzle, and are as they were bought in Hakone.

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