Today is Monday, but it’s a national holiday in Japan called “Culture Day”(Bunkanohi in Japanese). The idea behind this day is to “love freedom and peace, and promote culture.” It’s a day for people to enjoy and appreciate art and culture. Around this time, many “Culture Festivals” are held across the country — some by local communities and others by schools. When we were students, the culture festival was one of the biggest events of the year. Each class prepared different displays or performances. In my area, the local festival features handmade crafts and locally grown produce, which are exhibited and sold. In larger cities, there are also plays and musical performances. The weather is usually refreshing at this time of year, so it’s a great opportunity for people to come together and enjoy the season.
Today, I came to my workshop a bit later than usual and did a small amount of work. I finished painting several 5-sun puzzle boxes with drawers that I’ve been working on recently. They’re almost complete, but there’s still a little assembly work left to do. I shape the lids to fit the already completed drawers. Starting with this batch, I lightly applied a protective coating to the boards before cutting them into lids—just a very thin layer, but it makes a big difference. Without it, fingerprints would eventually appear since you need to push the lid by hand to open the drawer. In the past, I used to coat only the top surface after each lid was formed, but this time I did it while the boards were still whole. One board can make six drawer lids.
The finished drawers are fitted with their lids and then placed into the finish coated puzzle box bodies. At the same time, I adjust not only the drawer lids but also the lid panels and Aruki moving panels on the boxes to ensure they move smoothly. If I find any fine dust from the coating process, I clean it off—sometimes using a very fine cloth or sandpaper—after closing the box and checking the mechanism. To protect the boxes from outside air, I seal each one in a special plastic bag before packing it into a outer (gift)-box of 5-sun box together with the instruction sheet. That’s when the box is truly complete. I managed to reach that stage today. There are only two extra natural wood drawer-type boxes this time, but I plan to list them on my website soon.
It was a very dry day today, perfect for “Culture Day,” which is a national holiday in Japan. Days like this are ideal for attaching the Aruki moving panels… though that will have to wait 😅 Tomorrow, I plan to work on the final stage of the 3-sun cube (14-step type). It’s been sitting in storage for a few days since assembly, so it’s time to finish it up.
