Karakuri Secret Base Box by Iwahara

Description

There are two spaces to find inside this finely crafted puzzle box by Hiroshi Iwahara; long term member of the Karakuri Creation Group. 

This Japanese Puzzle Box is in a completely different style to traditional sliding side puzzle boxes. It has very complex internal mechanisms that allow for very unusual action of the wooden panels. And Hiroshi’s fine woodworking allow for very smooth movement of the panels that greatly enhances the solving. 

First created as part of the Karakuri Group Christmas release in 2007 the Secret Base box has been remade a number of times over the years due to the demand for such an ingenious and elegant puzzle. 
The idea behind the movement came to Hiroshi when he was watching a robot animation TV series. When a bad enemy destroys the town and the peace of the people, the shutter of a secret base that is hidden under the ground opens and a robot of the justice comes out to save the peace. It was an exciting scene. The shutter is the motif of this work.

The craftsman responsible for design and manufacture of this box is Hiroshi Iwahara.  After graduating from Matsumoto Woodwork Technical College Hiroshi joined Karakuri in 1999 and has been applying his skills to making remarkably crafted wooden puzzles ever since. He’s one of the Karakuri Group’s most prolific craftsmen with over 90 different puzzles to his name so far and counting…

The Secret Base Box is made from various woods: Shiuri cherry, Katsura, Oak, Walnut, Padoauk, Keyaki(zelkova), and Ancient Katura. It is packaged with a sealed solution page inside a pressboard gift box with a crimson lid.

Size:  90mm × 90mm × 67mm
Size inside:   Compartment 1:  22×22×18mm、Compartment 2: 60mm × 63mm ×15mm

This puzzle won one of three First Prizes awarded in the 2008 Puzzle Design Competition