Japanese Secret Box And The Mystery Behind It | Insanely Complicated Opening Examples

While many people are still enjoying playing with Rubik cubes, there are some who thought about trying something may be more challenging: Japanese secret box (or mostly known as “puzzle box” or “trick box”). It’s about opening a box by resolving a very complicated multiple step puzzle on it. Actually, it is made of small pieces of wood, all of them mixed in a pattern that you have to match, as to open the puzzle box and find the secret inside. Besides the hidden openings, they have many secret compartments where you can keep your valuable small objects. “Yosegi” is the most well known brand of such Japanese secret box.

It can really be a fun, useful and hard to open gift box.

Later, we’ll find how to open such amazing box. Keep reading…

It is said that this kind of box puzzle was made for the first time somewhere around 1893, the late Edo period, in the Hakone Mountains They are well known for their infinity woods and the great variety of trees, all different as color. This natural mosaic work is only made of fine wood, applying a lacquer finish for a better appearance. Wooden puzzle box was not such a huge thing that time, but now its popularity has grown a lot, as people are more interested in finding strange ways to keep their goods in a safe place.

While some of them require only one or two moves to be opened, other need even 700 or more. This means a couple of minutes for those who know the pattern… a life for those who don’t. [laughs]

 

Puzzle Box Manufacturing

Each piece of the Japanese Yosegi puzzle box is hand made. The process starts with processing the wood to its proper thickness. Each and single of the planed sheets is then covered with a high temperature glue, giving the wanted pattern, then squeezing it in a vise. It will be cut in small needed pieces, and each one is being verified with a mold, to make sure of their exactness. The next step is to glue some pieces together, as the pattern requires, and iron it. You better check the process of Yosegi puzzle box in the video below:

I am personally very curious about how people can open such Japanese puzzle boxes, so here I am with some video for you.

Japanese Secret Box Opening

Fist of all we’ll have a 10 Movs Puzzle Box:

Let’s make it a little bit harder now. 14 moves secret box:

Puzzle box with 63 moves:

I don’t want you to get bored so we’ll go EXTREME now! Check this Impossible 324 Moves Box Puzzle! It apparently takes 7 minutes. It’s human I would say, but still impossible for me:

 

I’ve found this beautiful puzzle box on Amazon if you are thinking about trying and challenging yourself. It is a 27 step Japanese Yosegi Puzzle Box and I bet you can handle that. It is awesome for beginners.

Japanese Yosegi Puzzle Box – 10 steps one if you feel like 27 is too much:

Japanese Yosegi Puzzle Box 14 steps:

 

I also have a 3D puzzle box option which looks really royal. Click on the photo.

Find Here the official website of Yosegi Japan.

 

Have any Questions?

To WHOM would you give such a crazy secret box GIFT?