Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes
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JAPAN UNIQUE GIFTS is an online shop operated by YAQMO as a portal site to the world of Japanese culture. Our aspiration is to introduce unique items handcrafted in limited quantities in Japan and make them available for purchase worldwide. We are starting off with a small selection of gifts, but with plans to steadily seek out more and more superlative artisans and offer an ever wider and more varied array of unique items. Please let us know if there is something special you would be interested in, and we will do our best to add it to our list! Click here to send your feedbacks.
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Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes
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Here's a real brain teaser to challenge you!

Small Trick Boxes

Japanese Karakuri (trick) Puzzle Boxes are designed and crafted in the mountainous region of Hakone, approximately 1.5 hours from Tokyo. The area continues to be a popular tourist destination dating back to the late Edo Period (1603 - 1868) with beautiful lakes, hot springs and fabulous sceneries, including the glimpse of Mount Fuji.

With an abundance of quality wood varieties, many souvenirs were created using wood and through generations of craftsmanship, they developed into a highly crafted wooden boxes. Among them, that attracted the public attention was known as "Himitsu Bako" or secret box. The boxes were constructed with tricky interlocking wooden elements and needed number of puzzling steps to open the box, making the inner compartment as a secret vault.

The concept of this secret box led to a new form of secret boxes, named as Karakuri Puzzle Box by Akio Kamei, one of the foremost contemporary trick puzzle box designer and craftsman in the world. He is the founder and head of craftsmen at Karakuri Creation Group in Hakone. Their aim is to go beyond the tradition and to create more enjoyable, more tricky and higher quality puzzle boxes. They sure have succeeded and continues to come up with more challenging tricks and puzzles!

Some of the boxes look real simple, and they are so well made and sturdy that you will wonder if the box opens… it will. The challenge is to approach with a fresh perspective and an open mind, or in other words, to open the box, its best to think outside the box! Enjoy the challenge!

Number of items: 23
  with details    images only
Karakuri Small Box set A

Karakuri Small Box set A
[m0016_kara-01]

JPY9,468 [We are not taking orders]
Don't let small size fool you, it could be very nasty and perplex you!Set of two Small Trick Boxes, …
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Karakuri Small Box set B

Karakuri Small Box set B
[m0016_kara-02]

JPY9,468 [We are not taking orders]
Don't let small size fool you, it could be very nasty and perplex you!Set of two Small Trick Boxes, …
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Karakuri Small Box set C

Karakuri Small Box set C
[m0016_kara-03]

JPY9,468 [We are not taking orders]
Don't let small size fool you, it could be very nasty and perplex you!Set of two Small Trick Boxes, …
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Karakuri Small Box set D

Karakuri Small Box set D
[m0016_kara-04]

JPY14,156 [We are not taking orders]
Don't let small size fool you, it could be very nasty and perplex you!Set of three Small Trick Boxes…
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Karakuri Small Box set E

Karakuri Small Box set E
[m0016_kara-05]

JPY14,156 [We are not taking orders]
Don't let small size fool you, it could be very nasty and perplex you!Set of three Small Trick Boxes…
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Acorn Box

Acorn Box
[m0016_kara-6]

JPY5,168 [We are not taking orders]
Don't let the craftsmen fool you with his tricks! Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes: Acorn BoxThe top c…
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PARABOX 2

PARABOX 2
[m0016_kara-7]

JPY35,884 [We are not taking orders]
Wooden boxes will never be the same!Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes: Parabox 2The naming of this box …
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Egg

Egg
[m0016_kara-8]

JPY14,383 [We are not taking orders]
Easy to open if you challenge with a fresh mindset.Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes: EggGuess what's i…
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Dice

Dice
[m0016_kara-9]

JPY14,383 [We are not taking orders]
A dice is a dice, how will you tackle this puzzle?Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes: DiceThis exquisite…
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Expansion VI

Expansion VI
[m0016_kara-10]

JPY50,389 [We are not taking orders]
Knowing the solution may not be enough to open this box!Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes: Expansion VI…
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New Secret Box No.1

New Secret Box No.1
[m0016_kara-13]

JPY5,743 [We are not taking orders]
Actually there's no secret to opening the box! Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes: New Secret Box No. 1T…
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New Secret Box No. 2

New Secret Box No. 2
[m0016_kara-14]

JPY6,309 [We are not taking orders]
Actually there's no secret to opening the box! Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes: New Secret Box No. 2T…
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New Secret Box No.3

New Secret Box No.3
[m0016_kara-15]

JPY7,163 [We are not taking orders]
Actually there's no secret to opening the box! Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes: New Secret Box No. 3T…
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Trick Cube No. 2/Karakuri Cube Box 2

Trick Cube No. 2/Karakuri Cube Box 2
[m0016_kara-11]

JPY5,023 [Low Stock]
Is it easy? It all depends on how you tackle the trick.Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes: Karakuri Cube…
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Trick Cube No. 4/Karakuri Cube Box 4

Trick Cube No. 4/Karakuri Cube Box 4
[m0016_kara-12]

JPY5,023 [We are not taking orders]
Is it easy? It all depends on how you tackle the trick.Japanese Karakuri Puzzle Boxes: Karakuri Cube…
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Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Newton Box

Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Newton Box
[m0016_kit-001]

JPY3,250 [Low Stock]
Do you know how Karakuri Puzzle Boxes work? Assemble them yourself to find out the mechanism! As th…
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Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Spin Box

Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Spin Box
[m0016_kit-002]

JPY3,250 [Low Stock]
Do you know how Karakuri Puzzle Boxes work? Assemble them yourself to find out the mechanism! As the…
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Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Ninja Box

Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Ninja Box
[m0016_kit-003]

JPY3,250 [Low Stock]
Do you know how Karakuri Puzzle Boxes work? Assemble them yourself to find out the mechanism! Just l…
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Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Urashima Box

Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Urashima Box
[m0016_kit-004]

JPY3,250 [Low Stock]
Do you know how Karakuri Puzzle Boxes work? Assemble them yourself to find out the mechanism! Urahim…
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Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Piggy Bank

Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Piggy Bank
[m0016_kit-005]

JPY3,250 [Low Stock]
Do you know how Karakuri Puzzle Boxes work? Assemble them yourself to find out the mechanism! As the…
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Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Karakuri Cake

Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Karakuri Cake
[m0016_kit-006]

JPY3,250 [We are not taking orders]
Do you know how Karakuri Puzzle Boxes work? Assemble them yourself to find out the mechanism! The cl…
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Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Camera

Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Camera
[m0016_kit-007]

JPY3,250 [We are not taking orders]
Do you know how Karakuri Puzzle Boxes work? Assemble them yourself to find out the mechanism! The ke…
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Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Animal Box

Karakuri Self-Assembly Kit: Animal Box
[m0016_kit-008]

JPY3,250 [We are not taking orders]
Do you know how Karakuri Puzzle Boxes work? Assemble them yourself to find out the mechanism! Althou…
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  with details    images only