Boxes and Booze 5/13/17 Boxes and Booze 5/13/17

Travel Pillow

Boxes and Booze is on the road, traveling a bit over the next few weeks. It seems like a good time to bring out my travel pillow. This one is from Kyoko Hoshino, one of the very few women crafting puzzle boxes today.

Boxes and Booze 5/6/17 Boxes and Booze 5/6/17

Shrinking Box

The idea of a box which needs to literally shrink in order to open is simply fascinating to me, and apparently to Hiroshi Iwahara, who designed it, and Tatsuo Miyamoto, who crafted it, as well.

Boxes and Booze 4/22/17 Boxes and Booze 4/22/17

Pyramid

Here at Boxes and Booze we seldom get boxed in, and certainly not into a corner. Take a standard cube, for example, with its six faces, eight vertices and twelve edges.

Boxes and Booze 4/8/17 Boxes and Booze 4/8/17

POH

It’s sakura (cherry blossom) season and the lovely pink blossoms are resplendent across Japan and in Washington DC here in the US. The blossoms call to mind the beauty and magic in the world, as does this charming puzzle box from Yoh Kakuda of the Karakuri Creation Group.

Boxes and Booze 4/1/17 Boxes and Booze 4/1/17

Roll Box

At first glance, it appears to be a handsomely made chest with a wooden-hinged lid, locked shut at the front. There is a prominent bar on the front decorated in a contrasting, directional wood pattern which seems to be telling you something. Indeed this is a sliding bar with a little keyhole.

Boxes and Booze 3/25/17 Boxes and Booze 3/25/17

Two-Dimensional Secret Box

One of the Japanese Karakuri Creation Group artists who has delighted in pushing the boundaries of what is possible is Hiroshi Iwahara.

Boxes and Booze 3/4/17 Boxes and Booze 3/4/17

Byways Secret

One of the most prolific and creative modern puzzle box artists from the Karakuri Creation Group, Hiroshi Iwahara, decided he would turn the tradition inside out with his “Byways Secret” box set.

Boxes and Booze 2/25/17 Boxes and Booze 2/25/17

Top Box

We’re celebrating a few luminaries this week at boxes and booze. Going all the way back to the origins of the Karakuri Creation Group, we have another puzzle box by the legendary Japanese artist Akio Kamei.

Boxes and Booze 2/11/17 Boxes and Booze 2/11/17

Valentine’s Day

I’m really a sentimental fool. To prove it, I’ll embrace this year’s Valentine’s Day full on, with the perfect puzzle box and love potion pairing. There’s no chance you won’t be smitten.

Boxes and Booze 1/28/17 Boxes and Booze 1/28/17

POD

“POD”, by Karakuri Creation Group artist Hideaki Kawashima, is a little box with a large secret. In fact, Kawashima says that this box represents the culmination of all he has learned about puzzle box making over the last 8 years, and that’s saying something.

Boxes and Booze 12/24/16 Boxes and Booze 12/24/16

Mouse Kingdom

Mouse Kingdom depicts a brave and clever little mouse who is hoisting the mouse flag over his (or her) dominion in triumph while the sleepy cat snoozes unaware on the other side of the wall.

Boxes and Booze 12/10/16 Boxes and Booze 12/10/16

Ronaporthe

This handsome fellow is a beast of burden created by Karakuri Creation Group artist Yoh Kakuda, who is known for his magical menagerie of puzzle box designs.

Boxes and Booze 12/3/16 Boxes and Booze 12/3/16

Button Box (BB)

Kyoko Hoshino of the Karakuri Creation Group makes her puzzle boxes distinct with her use of cloth and other materials in and on her boxes.

Boxes and Booze 8/20/16 Boxes and Booze 8/20/16

Snail Box (Creative Secret 1)

Sloeing things down a bit on the puzzling side as well, I present the “Snail” box, a collaborative effort from the Karakuri Creation Group.

Boxes and Booze 7/23/16 Boxes and Booze 7/23/16

Dragon Wing

Shiro Tajima, a former member of the Karakuri Creation Group, has created a series of Asian zodiac themed puzzle boxes over the years.

Boxes and Booze 7/2/16 Boxes and Booze 7/2/16

Ouch!

The design and concept of this puzzle, according to Kamei, originates with a common, frustrating occurrence in Japanese homes. Because shoes are not worn inside, it is apparently a shared cultural experience to stub ones little toe on the corners of furniture or low shelving.

Boxes and Booze 6/25/16 Boxes and Booze 6/25/16

Planet with a Ring

It’s time to do a little summer stargazing now. Launching off from last week’s post where we boarded Kasho’s rocket ship and blasted into space with the X-15 “rocktail”, we now find ourselves floating amidst the stars and planets of the cosmos.

Boxes and Booze 6/18/16 Boxes and Booze 6/18/16

Rocket

It’s summertime. The days are getting longer and the nights are full of dreams. There’s something magical about looking up at the stars on a warm evening that stirs the imagination. Let’s take a trip into outer space together.

Boxes and Booze 6/11/16 Boxes and Booze 6/11/16

Three Cornered Deadlock

I like continuing themes, so it’s fitting that this year I have another perfectly balanced, “three-part” puzzle box to pair with the Negroni, and it’s also by Hideaki Kawashima again. Kawashima makes intricately designed puzzles which often have components that interplay with one another, so that one section becomes blocked while the other is opened.

Boxes and Booze 5/21/16 Boxes and Booze 5/21/16

Two-Tricks

Opinions vary, but one commonly held belief around these parts is that the puzzle boxes appear to have multiplied. I really couldn't say about the validity of that supposition, but if such a thing were even remotely accurate, I would have to blame, of course, the rabbits.

A spirited journey through the world of collectible artisan puzzles