28-Oct-2024
In Japan, we often refer to this season as the “Long Rains of Autumn (Akinonagaame),” since we tend to have a string of rainy days. Up until last week, the weather was quite warm and still felt like summer, but now the mornings and evenings have finally cooled down. Today was another day of light rain, which can be a bit tricky for puzzle box making. Still, it’s very pleasant when stepping out😄
This season has many events encouraging sports, as I mentioned recently, but it’s also a popular time for arts and cultural events. Many regions hold local “cultural festivals (Bunkasai),” where residents bring and display their own handmade creations. These exhibits feature a variety of artworks, from paintings and crafts to stained glass pieces. There’s often a stage where people perform music or dance, so a full day is filled with diverse performances. Over the weekend, I visited a cultural festival in a nearby town and enjoyed seeing the work of artists of all ages, from children to seniors, as well as watching the live performances. It was a wonderful event.
The 4-sun box project I was working on recently is nearly complete, so today I’ve started production on the 5-sun 27-step Japanese puzzle boxes, traditional yosegi type. So far, I’ve just attached part of the yosegi panels, but I plan to continue with more process each day. The panels need to dry for a while, so I always start with this step. The side panels are especially critical, so I applied the yosegi to these first. The top and bottom panels are made from plywood, so they won’t expand as much, but the side panel boards tend to swell and warp from the moisture in the glue. They need time to return to their original state before I can use them.
However, high humidity actually makes it much easier to apply the yosegi panels. This is because the yosegi sheets are quite sensitive to dryness…😂
and as I mentioned earlier, the recent stretch of high humidity might delay the drying process. During this waiting period, I typically move on to work on the structure of the box itself. This time, I plan to make about 30 of these boxes. As I may have mentioned before, the 5-sun yosegi sheets are becoming increasingly rare, so I’ll likely narrow down the types of 5-sun boxes I produce. For instance, I’ll no longer be making the simpler 7-step, 12-step, or 14-step boxes, focusing instead on more intricate ones like the 27-step and the 10-step boxes with drawers. I believe this will make for a more enjoyable experience for customers as well.
