The sunny weather we’ve had over the past few days seems to be coming to an end. It was still sunny this morning, but rain is expected to start by tomorrow morning. I’m glad I finished several gluing tasks by yesterday. In particular, I was able to attach the panels to the 5-sun boxes under good conditions, which gives me some peace of mind. Choosing the right conditions is not a skill that takes years to learn. It is something we can pay attention to right away. However, it can be easy to overlook when trying to keep production moving. In making Japanese puzzle boxes, taking care of the working conditions is just as important as developing our skills.
I’ve been writing weekend blog posts since October 26 last year, but from today, I’ve decided to focus on posting YouTube videos every weekend instead. I will still post here, but mainly to share a link to each video with a short comment. I plan to post one video on Saturday and one on Sunday, either a regular video or a Short. Most will probably be Shorts showing how the boxes open. Since there are only so many different step counts, some videos may look similar, but I hope they will help more people discover my puzzle boxes.
Recently, I’ve started adding my own spoken explanations to my regular videos. They are in English, though I’m far from fluent!..haha🤣I speak a little slowly, so I appreciate your patience. My pronunciation may be a little hard to understand at times. I haven’t added subtitles myself, but automatic captions are available, so please use them if they help. Here is the link to my YouTube channel.
Last weekend, I was away from the workshop for about four days to sell my puzzle boxes at a national crafts exhibition (Kougei Expo – https://kougei-expo-kanagawa.com/) held in our area. Craftspeople from all over Japan brought their work to a very large venue. This government-organized event takes place in a different part of Japan each year, and this year it was held near us. The Karakuri Creation Group had a booth there, and I was able to display my traditional Japanese puzzle boxes as part of it. It was a very rewarding event. I had the chance to meet many visitors and sell my boxes directly to them. The market for wooden puzzle boxes in Japan has been a little slow compared with overseas. Still, I found that many people have never seen these crafts before, and that there are people who are interested in them. The event made me want to find more opportunities to introduce my boxes to people in Japan. I also learned that many new makers have joined the Karakuri Creation Group, making it even more interesting than when I was a member over 15 years ago. I’m grateful to all the Karakuri members who shared the booth with me.
Here is today’s video: the 3-sun 18-steps puzzle box. This model was also very popular at the recent event. The 3-sun size is easy to hold, even for people with smaller hands. With 18 steps to open it, it offers a little more of a challenge and may feel like good value. This model combines traditional Yosegi with checkered Ichimatsu Yosegi.
