Japanese Puzzle Boxes
A Japanese puzzle box looks like a solid block of patterned wood until the right panel slides. Some open in two moves and some need more than a hundred, and the marks, woods and size help a collector date one.
How a Japanese puzzle box opens
Japan has exported secret opening boxes to the West since before 1870. They are often complex and need many moves to open, and the puzzle is to reach the secret compartment inside.
The usual sequence starts at one end. Sliding one or more parts there lets the opposite end shift slightly, which partly unlocks a side panel. Moving that panel frees other pieces, and those in turn partly unlock the top or bottom. The solver works around the box this way until the top panel can finally slide open. Solutions often call for sliding sections of the ends as well as the top and bottom.
Difficulty varies enormously. Some boxes open in two moves, while others need as many as 122. Most of the very early boxes, from the late 1800s and early 1900s, took only a few moves, usually two to four. In 2003 such early boxes could sell for several hundred dollars if they were in good condition and still worked properly.
Yoseki: the wood mosaic on puzzle boxes
Puzzle boxes were often beautifully lacquered or veneered. The elaborate wood mosaic on many of them is called yoseki, a craft practiced in Japan for centuries that relies on the natural grain, texture and color of many different woods.
Each color comes from a particular wood: spindlewood for white, katsura for black, sumac or mulberry for yellow, camphor for brown, American walnut for purple, Japanese cucumber for blue and Chinese cedar for red, among others. Oblong rods with the right cross sections are glued together to form the geometric pattern. The end of the bundle is then sliced into very thin sheets of veneer, which are glued onto the box before it is glazed and polished.
By combining rods of different shapes, such as squares and regular or irregular hexagons, in different colors, a maker could build patterns of great beauty and complexity. The pattern is more than decoration. It also hides the seams of the sliding pieces that must be moved to open the box, which is why a good yoseki surface makes a puzzle harder to solve.
Himitsu-Bako and puzzle box history in Hakone
The Himitsu-Bako, or personal secret box, is a traditional Japanese puzzle box designed more than 100 years ago in the Hakone region. The Hakone Mountains are known for their great variety of trees, and the makers of the secret box used that range of natural colors and textures to create their geometric patterns.
The box is valued as much for its mosaic woodwork as for the puzzle. The marquetry technique, used on small crafts such as trays, boxes and chests, began in the late Edo Period. For many years the town of Hakone was a relay station on the main road to Edo, present-day Tokyo, and the mosaic woodwork developed as souvenirs for travelers.
The secret box is first mentioned in a journal issued between 1830 and 1843, when it was still in its early form. It was called a Sikake-Bako or Tie-Bako. Sikake means device or trick, and Tie means idea, wisdom or intelligence. These were small boxes for string, nails, sewing kits and the like.
The string boxes grew into small chests in which workers carried their tools and kept them safe from theft, since no one could get in without knowing the trick. Workers took them on coaches and ships. At first the trick was very simple, and as the boxes caught on it became more complicated. Up to that point the boxes had little or no decoration and looked nothing like today’s puzzle boxes.
Japanese puzzle boxes reach the West
Japan was probably making puzzle boxes before 1800, but it was a closed society until Perry opened it to trade in 1854. Within about a decade the Japanese jewel-box was being sold in the 1867 Adams & Co. of Boston catalogue, described as “Genuine Japanese manufacture.” In 1896 the Marinka & Co. catalogue showed a Japanese inlaid puzzle box with a drawer that slid out in four different directions.
After 1870, puzzle boxes came into use for keeping important documents and secrets safe. The early ones were flatter, but they soon grew into 5 sun and 6 sun sizes with up to 66 moves. Most Japanese secret boxes need between 4 and 66 moves, and a few large boxes have exceptional counts such as 78, 119, 122 or 125. A box by the late master craftsman Yoshio Okiyama needs 119 moves to open.
The craft has never been written down. It has passed from master craftsman to apprentice for generations, which helps explain why fine boxes are so admired. Collectors who enjoy small boxes in other materials may also like antique Paris porcelain boxes, made for snuff, patches and trinkets.
Dating a Japanese puzzle box by its marks
Marks give a rough date. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1891 required imports to the United States to be marked with their country of origin. From March 1891 until September 1921, Japanese goods were supposed to carry that mark, and Japan chose the word Nippon. The law was tightened in 1921, after which goods were to be marked Japan or Made in Japan. From 1945 to 1952 the required mark was Made in Occupied Japan, and after 1952 exports to the U.S. were again to be marked Made in Japan.
Novelty, puzzle and magic catalogs allow much more accurate dating than marks alone. Style helps too. Puzzle boxes made before World War II were smaller, made of dark woods and often show fine workmanship. Postwar boxes were larger and made with lighter woods. The habit of reading a mark and then checking it against the object applies across antiques, from Japanese woodwork to European wares, as explained in tell-tale signs on reproduction porcelain.
Puzzle box sizes in sun, banks and novelties
Size is measured in sun, the traditional Japanese unit of about 1.22 inches. Curiously, the sun measures length only, not width or height. Small puzzle boxes are 1, 2 or 3 sun long, medium boxes are 4 sun, the standard size is 5 sun, and large boxes are 6 and 7 sun.
Not every box hides only a compartment. Some boxes from the 1920s and 1930s doubled as banks with coin slots, and only two or three moves were needed to get the money out. Puzzle banks were also made in the form of a watermill and a boat. A box from 1937 has a hidden coin slot and drawer and opens in four moves. One novelty contains a noise maker that moos when the box is tilted, while other boxes need nine or ten moves to open a secret compartment and drawer. Small lidded containers of other kinds, such as the dressing table hair receivers of the Victorian era, were similarly practical objects that collectors now prize for their decoration.
Questions and answers
How do you open a Japanese puzzle box?
Start at one end. Sliding one or more parts there lets the other end move slightly, which partly unlocks a side panel. Moving that frees other pieces, which partly unlock the top or bottom. Continue around the box until the top panel slides open. Some boxes need two moves, others more than 100.
How many moves does a Japanese puzzle box have?
Most Japanese personal secret boxes take between 4 and 66 moves. Early boxes from the late 1800s and early 1900s usually took only two to four. A few large boxes need exceptional numbers such as 78, 119, 122 or 125 moves, including a 119-move box by master craftsman Yoshio Okiyama.
How can I date an old Japanese puzzle box?
Check the country mark. Nippon was used from March 1891 to September 1921, then Japan or Made in Japan, Made in Occupied Japan from 1945 to 1952, and Made in Japan after 1952. Prewar boxes are smaller and darker, postwar boxes larger and lighter. Old novelty and magic catalogs date boxes more precisely.
What is a sun in Japanese puzzle box sizes?
A sun is the traditional Japanese unit of length, about 1.22 inches, and it measures length only. Small puzzle boxes are 1, 2 or 3 sun, medium boxes are 4 sun, the standard size is 5 sun, and large boxes are 6 and 7 sun.
What is the wood pattern on Japanese puzzle boxes called?
The wood mosaic is called yoseki. Rods of naturally colored woods, such as spindlewood for white, camphor for brown and Chinese cedar for red, are glued into a pattern, sliced into thin veneer and glued onto the box. The pattern also hides the sliding panels.