Yoh Kakuda Visit

After Osamu’s incredible friendship and kindness over the past year I thought I should blog about Yoh Kakuda’s brief visit to Halifax.  He had planned a longer visit to include a visit to Prince Edward Island during the summer but sadly Air Canada was on strike at the time so the trip was rescheduled.

To have one Karakuri Craftsman visit us was thrilling but having two at the same time was phenomenal.  The skill they all have is simply astounding, Osamu kindly left us with many of his creations and Yoh gifted us one of his gorgeous ‘My Place’ creations!  You can see all of his pieces at his Karakuri page.

My Place - KY-58-2 - 2/2025

Here’s Yoh’s description:

“Even though it’s your spot, your cat likes the same place and is too comfortable to move for you. 

You should give up that place and quickly find another before your tea gets cold.

Well, even if you can't enjoy your place, you can still enjoy opening the box.

The material is zelkova as before, but this time it has a unified look with a beautiful yellow color.”

This is a stunning box as it was so carefully crafted that it simply does not give way to its secret opening movements!  The detail of the cat is amazing, the eyes are breathtaking.  Here’s some pics!

I’m hoping for more visits from the wonderful Karakuri Group in the future, perhaps I might make the trip to Japan someday.

Osamu Kasho Puzzle Box Designer/Craftsman

 I felt the urge to express my deep gratitude to Osamu and his lovely family who has seemingly popped into my life and uplifted my spirits as I navigate my time without my loving wife Barb at my side.

Osamu is taking year away from the Karakuri Creation Group and moved to my neck of the woods, Nova Scotia.  

His woodworking skills are incredible to say the least, however his PuzzleBox designs are simply astonishing.

I’ve taken photos of a few of his masterpieces and will add more as we continue to spend time together puzzling over his body of work.

As a side note, Osamu is a very talented musician as well!

Martin’s Menace or Four Fit - Stewart Coffin Design #217 by John Devost

I’ve made several of this design previously, this copy features Zebrawood pieces.  Tray is Black Limba with a Red Zebrawood Bottom.  Slipfeathers are Leopardwood.

Here’s Stewart’s description:

“For a while I became absorbed in the form of mathematical amusements that I call square root type puzzles. In 2001 I disseminated a 20-page report, Square Root Type Packing Problems, with limited distribution. A condensed version was included in the 2014 Appendix. I also wrote a couple articles on the subject and contributed to a third. Out of all that came a deluge of puzzle designs. Rather than clutter up this Compendium with all of them, I have selected just a few of the more unusual. I consider Martin’s Menace the best of all my numerous designs in this category, especially because of its deceptive simplicity. It was an IPP exchange puzzle under the original name Four Fit. It is all based on psychology. None of the four pieces rests comfortably in a corner or even touches two sides, so where does one start? Many puzzle experts have been baffled by it, even the great Martin Gardner, hence the change of name. To quote from one of his three furtive letters concerning it: “It’s the finest dissection puzzle of all time. It looks easy but is fiendishly difficult. I wasted a week trying vainly to solve it.” 

Five Woods - Stewart Coffin Design #177-A by John Devost

My memory is a little fuzzy on whether I’ve ever made any of this design before but I thought I should with some very nice Bloodwood, Zebrawood, Canarywood, Yellowheart and Black Palm, that I had on hand.  The Tray is Canarywood with some Slipfeathers of Leopardwood to strengthen up the mitres.

Here’s Stewart’s description:

“In case you haven’t already discovered, polyominoes is the name given to puzzle pieces made of squares joined different ways. A popular recreation is to fit them snugly into a square or rectangular tray. The long-time popularity of this pastime opens up opportunity for puzzle makers to exploit it by surreptitiously deviating from the regular grid. In this puzzle, all pieces are rotated by arctan ½, which is 26.6 degrees. With two pieces alike and two symmetrical it is not as difficult as some others, but an entertaining pastime and quite nice to contemplate and play with when made in five colorful woods.”

Oskar’s Cube - Oskar Van Deventer by John Devost

This cool cube design by Oskar features 5 ‘Z’ shaped pieces along with an ‘L’ and ‘I’ piece.  There’s three solutions of medium difficulty.

Pieces are Zebrawood with a Black Limba Box.  Sleeve is Leopardwood with Wenge Slipfeathers.

Unique Cube - Martin Gardner by John Devost

While I was making 3x3 cube puzzles I thought I’d make one of these and I’m glad that I did as it’s a pretty neat design.  It features 2 solutions.

Pieces are Zebrawood with a Canarywood Box, Sleevevis Red Zebrawood with Wenge Slipfeathers.

Kinder Cube - Kevin Holmes by John Devost

This puzzle is one of many cube designs by Kevin that he likely made and sold at his booth in England.  There’s 6 pieces with 13 solutions, which surprised me about this puzzle because the shape of a couple of the pieces tends to limit their placement within this 3x3 cube.

Pieces are Leopardwood with a Black Limba Box.  Sleeve is Leopardwood and Wenge Slipfeathers.