What is Yosegi Puzzle Box & how Yosegi pattern is created

What is Yosegi?

• Yosegi pattern that you see is not print or paint, it is a type of intricate and complicated wood work.
• Yosegi is a pattern (thin skin or layer) scraped from a block made by arranging wood of different colors and shape.
• Yosegi originated in the Hakone region in Japan around the culturally rich EDO period (1603 - 1868) was created by master craftsman Nihei Ishikawa (1790-1850)

Below are a few Yosegi patterns :

Where is Yosegi used?

Yosegi patterns are commonly found on the outside of Japanese secret boxes or Japanese Puzzle Boxes (himitsu-bako), but may also be used to create or decorate many other items such as trays, chests, jewellery boxes, vases, photo frames, drink coasters, etc.

Products on which Yosegi pattern is used

Yosegi Puzzle Box

Yosegi Drawer Box

Yosegi Tray

What is a Yosegi Puzzle Box?

Also known as himitsu-bako, the secret box was originally created as a hiding place for coins, Jewelry and secret message. The Yosegi Puzzle Box is a secret Box that is not so easy to open. One has to perform a number of steps to open the box. Every box has a different trick to open it.

To open the box, once has to slide the moving parts of the box in a particular sequence.

The simplest boxes require about 2-10 steps, and most range from around 10 to 66 steps. However, there are a few Yosegi Puzzle Boxes that require over 125 steps - and one particularly large box requires over 360 steps. Each step is a small shift or slide of one of the seemingly seamless wooden pieces of the box. Each step must be done correctly and in the precise order, otherwise the box will remain locked and closed. But if all the steps are done correctly, the top lid slides off, revealing the hollow interior of the box. Steps must then be repeated backwards to close and lock the box.

Today, there are simpler Yosegi Puzzle Boxes (Himitsu-Bako) available. Some require only 7-10 steps to open. These were developed to increase interest amongst the general public and create a way that anyone could easily purchase them. They continue to be a leading souvenir to the many people who visit the Hakone region each year. In May 1984, Hakone-Yosegi-Zaiku was designated a national traditional handicraft by the International Trade & Industry Minister of Japan.

The Yosegi puzzle boxes differ in sizes and number of moves required to open them. The physical length is usually measured in the traditional Japanese units of measurement called the sun (pronounced "soon"), with one sun equal to approximately 3 centimetres (1.2 in), hence a "5 sun" box would measure about 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in length.

How is Yosegi pattern made?

Watch the below video or read the step by step process

Wood Cutting : Step 1

Timbers of different colors are cut into oblong rods of desired sections. In this case they are cut into triangle rods.

Glue the rods : Step 2

The rods are then glued together to form a square block.

Geometrical Pattern : Step 3

4 square blocks like above are combined together to form a bigger square. Tightened by exterior mould and rubber band they are left to dry.

Tanegi : Step 4

The dried and finished block/section is called "Tanegi". Tanegi of different patterns can be made too.

Combine Tanegi : Step 5

Similar to the above process other patterned blocks(Tanegi) are made. You can see the square and star pattern.

Oyose Assembly : Step 6

Multiple Tanegi made in the above proces are assembled to form a larger pattern called oyose.

Completed Yosegi block : Step 7

You can see the final Yosegi block which is ready to be used.

Another finished Yosegi block : Step 8

This is another example of a completed Yosegi block which is bigger in size.

Shave a strip: Step 9

A thing strip is shaved from the Yosegi block.

Yosegi Strip : Step 10

You can observe the Yosegi pattern thin strip/skin

Final application : Step 11

The shaved skin/strip is then applied on the handicraft products. In this case, its is being pasted on to a Yosegi Puzzle Box

Types of wood used in Yosegi pattern

• White color : Spindle tree (Euonymus spp.) and Ilex macropoda
• Black Color : Aged Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)
• Yellow Color : Picrasma quassioides, mulberry (Morus alba) and Chinese lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum)
• Brown Color : Camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora) and Maackia
• Purple Color : Black walnut (Juglans nigra)
• Blue Color : Japanese cucumber tree (Magnolia obovata)
• Red Color : Chinese cedar (Toona sinensis)

Samples of Yosegi pattern

Name	Types of Wood used	Pattern
Benkei	White - Cornus controversa Dark Brown - Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Makore Pale Brown - Mansonia Black - Cercidiphyllum japonicum
Gomai kawari neri ichimatsu	Lignt yellow - Euonymus hamiltonianus Wall Green - Magnolia Black - Cercidiphyllum japonicum (buried in soil)
Yakko	White - Cornus controversa Lignt yellow - Picrasma quassioides Yellow - Picrasma quassioides Pale Brown - Cercidiphyllum japonicum (buried in soil)
Rokkaku asanoha	White - Cornus controversa Black - Cercidiphyllum japonicum
Hakkaku asanoha	White - Ilex macropoda Yellow - Rhus succedanea Pale Brown - Cercidiphyllum japonicum (buried in soil)
Nami	Yellow - Euonymus hamiltonianus Wall Dark Brown - Red Monroe Pale Brown - Cercidiphyllum japonicum (buried in soil)
Kagemasu	White - Cornus controversa Dark Brown - Makore
Kikkou	White - Cornus controversa Pale Brown - Almaciga Pale Brown - Cercidiphyllum japonicum (buried in soil)
Hishi manji	White - Cornus controversa Black - Cercidiphyllum japonicum (buried in soil)

About Yosegi craftsmen

There are still only a handful of people who know the craft and one of them is Mr. Yoshio Okiyama

Mr.Yoshio Okiyama was born in Hakone, Japan in 1924. At age 12, he started making Himitsu-Bako while apprenticing with his father Mr. Yoshitaro Okiyama. Winning many awards through the years for his hand crafted boxes. Mr. Okiyama is more than 80 years old, and is a legend in Hakone Himitsu-bako. He chooses his own wood, cures it, cuts it to size, and to make a long story short does everything himself except make the Yosegi that he applies to the boxes. He is the grandson of one of the first puzzle box craftsman from Hakone. In 1994 the Association of Traditional Crafts Development of Industry in Japan commended Mr. Okiyama. Sadly, Mr. Okiyama passed away in the spring of 2003.

Summary of Mr. Okiyama's life

• 1925 Born in Hakone, JAPAN
• 1937 Become an apprentice of Yoshitarou Okiyama
• 1943 Entered the army
• 1945 Came back home
• 1960 Successfully restarted the Okiyama Woodworking factory
• Later, his speciality was continuing to produce Secret Boxes
• 1978 Won a prize at Crafts Competition (Secret Box)
• 1980 Won a prize at Crafts Competition (Trick Broach)
• 1991 Won a prize at Crafts Competition (Unusual Secret Box)
• 1992 Completed the 7 Sun 122 Step Secret Box
• 1993 Recognized as a man of merit in Traditional craft industry
• 1997 Won a prize at Crafts Competition (Unusual Secret Box 2)
• 1998 Won a prize at Crafts Competition (Secret Box with new trick inside)
• 2000 Acted as the Karakuri Creation Group's Chairman