Yasuaki Kikuchi embraces the holiday spirit when crafting Christmas puzzles more so than any other Karakuri craftsman.  His puzzle “one, two, TREE!” is incredibly clever.  Not only does it take the form of a Christmas tree, but it comes with tinsel and decorations so you can decorate the tree yourself.  It also involves amazing wood skills, with an incredibly well-disguised key step.  All original packing material is included. Karakuri product description: This work was designed as a C...

Shane Hales is a locksmith by trade, as well as one of the world’s foremost puzzle lock designers and crafters.  Shane has only released a handful of puzzle locks and because they are so coveted by collectors they are very hard to find.  This auction assembles two that were exchange puzzles at the 38th IPP (International Puzzle Party) in San Diego, California, in 2018: Silver Lock (exchanged by Daniel Bain) and Goldilock (exchanged by Peter Hajek).  As you would expect from a Shane Hales p...

Yoh Kakuda is well-known for puzzles with cute animal themes and narrative style, well-exhibited by Silent Cat.  The story given with the puzzle is that although the puzzle’s namesake won’t respond to questions (hence its flat almost sad expression), its tail might.  The workmanship is superb, with a crucial move that’s tricky to find.  All original packing material is included. Karakuri product description: This work was designed as a Christmas present for 2018.Even if you ask this c...

Jack in the Box is a gorgeous and clever early Karakuri-style mechanical puzzle box by master puzzle craftsman Jesse Born.  Its challenge is to find the very well-disguised sequence of steps that will eventually open the box and reveal the deck of playing cards within (the deck of cards in this copy remains in its original sealed wrap).  The exterior is made from Wenge and Holly additionally decorated on top with a spade and two stripes crafted from Cherry and Walnut in Japanese yosegi style; ...

The best Karakuri Idea Contest winners are beautifully crafted puzzle creations that cleverly combine theme and solution.  A line of ants is a great example of this.  There are numerous ants depicted on the top and side.  There is a hole on top reflecting the ants’ nest.  There is also a conical shape nearby representing a mound of sugar.  The solution ties these together with the puzzle’s theme in a delightful fashion.  All original packing material is included. Karakuri product desc...

As with the best of Karakuri Idea Contest winners, Railroad Crossing is beautiful to behold, reflects incredible craftsmanship, and embodies a highly creative solution connected with the puzzle’s theme.  For this one the mechanic is truly remarkable, reflecting an additional puzzle: How was this even possible to build?  Railroad Crossing is large and impressive on a shelf.  All original packing material is included. Karakuri product description: Some of the mechanisms move automatically. ...

Kamei is the founder of the Karakuri Creation Group and is famous for puzzle boxes that merge impeccable craftsmanship, beautiful presentation, and clever themes and solutions.  Love Box 5 is a great example of this.  This hard-to-find classic depicts a simple heart shape spanned by a ribbon with a bow on top.  Can you figure out how to open the box and access the cloth-lined compartment inside?  All original packing material is included. Karakuri product description: I made "Love Box 3" (...

Yoh Kakuda excels at creating whimsical animal-themed puzzles, and GOMBO is one of Kakuda’s best.  GOMBO depicts a playful, crouching cat.  Can you play with the cat and get it to give up its secret compartment?  The puzzle looks great on a shelf – it is huge, beautiful, and simply fun to see and play with.  The solution is absolutely delightful.  All original packing material is included. Karakuri product description: When a cat wakes from sleep, it stretches itself at first.This is ...

Bus Stop is a fantastic example of celebrated puzzle craftsman Osamu Kasho’s singular combination of playful Karakuri design coupled with delightful puzzling mechanic.  There’s a bus.  There’s a stop sign.  We all know what a vehicle does at a stop sign.  How does this play out here?  Figuring that out is the key to opening the box, and even with the solution being connected to the puzzle’s theme it can still take some time to figure out the key step.  And it’s beautiful, craft...

This gorgeous, ENORMOUS Karakuri comes from their 5th Idea Contest.  This Karakuri tightly couples its theme and solution, and has fantastic shelf presence.  It depicts a thermos container decanting liquid into a cup.  How can you stop the flow?  Answer the question and you’ll open the box.   To the best of my knowledge this is the first time it has ever been available via auction.  All original packaging included. Karakuri product description: Fill the teacup with hot water from t...

Kyoko Hoshino has a distinctive style within the Karakuri Creation Group, with puzzle boxes that often possess a story-telling nature.  The story for Ramen delivery box is pretty direct: Can you fully open the delivery box?  The puzzle has a delightful solution, plus gives you a cool twist when you have to reset everything back to start with the delivery tray returned to the delivery box.  All original packing material is included. Karakuri product description: This work was designed for a...

Way back in 2003 Karakuri introduced a set of boxes called the “Creative Secret Box Series”.  Now extremely hard to find, there were a total of nine Creative Secret puzzles.  Each was designed by a different craftsman, produced by senior Karakuri member Tatsuo Miyamoto, and featured a similar-styled almost fireworks-like pattern on some of the faces.  Type L is the second release in this series, designed by Karakuri founder Akio Kamei.  It came in three different patterns, with inlaid pa...

This adorable early Karakuri box depicts a scene from nature – a bee flying about a flower.  A combination of at least six exotic woods are used to create a flower under which the box sits and a bee with wings and antenna that magnetically sticks to the flower and can be moved about it.  As with the best Kararukis the solution is connected to the theme of the puzzle in a delightful way.  This very rare puzzle box is by early craftsman Haroyuke Oka, who was responsible for a number of very c...

Yoh Kakuda’s description on Karakuri’s Japanese language website reads “‘物語性のある動物ものが得意’“, which ChatGPT translates to “I'm good at animal-themed stories with a narrative”.  Anteater is one of Kakuda’s early works that showcases this style.  It presents its namesake in a whimsical fashion with a delightful solution that’s tightly coupled to its subject.  It’s wonderful.  All original packing material is included. Karakuri product description: ...

Shou Sugimoto’s SOGO Box is a wondrous creation.  Its shape is a cube as are many Karakuris, only Sugimoto has come up with an incredible mechanic that is challenging to find, delightful once discovered, and leaves you with the wonder of what could be going on inside that makes it possible.  It has a wonderful multi-colored zig-zag pattern on each face and is larger than many cubic Karakuris, giving it nice heft, beautiful feel, and impressive presence on display.  This copy is from the ori...

Yoh Kakuda’s A long wait poignantly presents us with a sitting figure with flat expression who – if the name is to be believed – has been waiting for quite some time.  It’s a double delight.  First is its distinctive, emotionally evocative figural depiction that is unique among all Karakuris.  Second is its incredible craftsmanship – the key step is nearly invisible, but utterly wonderful once discovered and amazing in how smoothly it moves.  All original packing material is includ...

Dashi, like many of the best Karakuri Idea Contest winners, reflects an item from Japanese culture.  In this case Dashi is designed to look like a traditional hand plane style bonito shaver.  It has three parts: the main cutter box, a lid that covers it, and a piece of bonito fish.  The box has a drawer that doesn’t seem to come out, which is where the bonito flakes would accumulate for an actual bonito shaver.  As with the best Idea Contest winners, the theme and puzzle are connected, her...