Yosegi and Puzzle Box Glossary

Japanese terms you will meet when reading about Hakone yosegi and puzzle boxes, with short explanations and links to the pages that cover them in more depth.

The craft

Yosegi-zaiku (寄木細工): Wood-mosaic craft that gathers pieces of naturally colored wood into geometric patterns. Hakone Town describes it as a craft made by gathering trees together. See what is yosegi.
Yosegi: Short form of yosegi-zaiku; also used for the patterned wood itself.
Hakone-zaiku: The woodwork of the Hakone area as a whole, including yosegi, inlay, turned ware and puzzles.
Zaiku (細工): Fine handwork or craftwork.
Taneita (種板): The "seed board": the finished patterned block from which zuku is shaved or muku is carved.
Zuku (ヅク): Thin sheets of patterned wood shaved from the taneita with a large plane and glued to boxes and other objects. See zuku and muku.
Muku (無垢): Solid yosegi: the patterned block carved or turned into an object, so the pattern runs through. A Showa-period development according to Web Japan.
Ko-yosegi (小寄木): Small-piece mosaic with continuous repeating patterns, established in Hakone in the early Meiji era.
Ran-yosegi (乱寄木): Random mosaic, without a strict repeating unit; common in early Hakone work.
Kezuri / shaving: Shaving the taneita into zuku with a large plane, the most demanding step. See how yosegi is made.
Fuki-urushi (拭き漆): Rubbed lacquer: a finish in which thin coats of natural lacquer are applied and wiped. One of the finishes listed in the craft standards.
Hikimono (挽物): Lathe-turned woodware. Hakone Town records hikimono production in Hatajuku in 1556.
Jindai (神代): "Age of the gods" wood: long-buried timber that has darkened naturally, used for dark tones. See woods and colors.

Patterns

Ichimatsu (市松): Checkerboard.
Asanoha (麻の葉): Hemp-leaf pattern of six-pointed stars.
Seigaiha (青海波): Overlapping wave arcs.
Sayagata (紗綾形): Interlocking key-fret lattice.
Mimasu (三枡): Three nested squares.
Yabane (矢羽根): Arrow-feather chevrons.
Uroko (鱗): Scale pattern of triangles.

See traditional patterns.

Puzzle boxes

Himitsu-bako (秘密箱): "Secret box": a box opened by sliding panels in a hidden sequence. Hakone Town credits Okawa Ryujiro of Yumoto with inventing it in 1894. See history.
Shikake-bako (仕掛け箱): "Device" or trick box; an earlier name for simple secret boxes, according to Hakone maker Izumiya.
Chie-bako (知恵箱): "Wisdom" or clever box; another early name.
Karakuri (からくり): Mechanism or trick.
Karakuri box: A trick box with an original mechanism by an individual craftsman, a name given by Akio Kamei. See karakuri trick boxes.
Karakuri tansu: Trick chest of drawers with hidden or rotating drawers.
Sun (寸): Traditional unit of length, about 30.3 mm, used to describe the length of a puzzle box. See sizes and moves.
Move / step (回): One slide of one panel; boxes are labeled by the number of moves needed to open them.
Zougan box: A puzzle box with pictures in wood on the top and bottom.

Related crafts

Mokuzogan (木象嵌): Wood inlay that creates pictures; developed in Hakone by Shirakawa Senseki in the Meiji period. See mokuzogan and kumiki.
Kumiki (組木): Interlocking wooden puzzles; "joining wood together." Hakone Town credits Yamanaka Tsunetaro of Odawara with inventing kumiki-zaiku around 1897.

Places and institutions

Hatajuku (畑宿): Settlement on the old Tokaido road in the Hakone mountains; the birthplace of yosegi.
Tokaido (東海道): The Edo-period highway between Edo and Kyoto that passed through Hakone.
Ichirizuka (一里塚): Edo-period distance-marker mounds; a pair survives in Hatajuku.
Hatajuku Yosegi Kaikan: Public craft hall in Hatajuku with displays and a coaster class.
Dento kogeishi (伝統工芸士): Government-certified Traditional Craftsman.
Dento mark / Tradition Stamp: Label attached to designated traditional craft products. See the buying guide.
Karakuri Creation Group: Guild of Hakone and Odawara karakuri box craftsmen, which began meeting in 1999.

Periods

Edo period: 1603 to 1868 (Hakone Town gives 1603 to 1867 in one place). Yosegi began in its later years.
Meiji period: 1868 to 1912. Ko-yosegi, mokuzogan, the himitsu-bako and kumiki developed.
Taisho period: 1912 to 1926. Export trade in coasters and boxes.
Showa period: 1926 to 1989. Postwar recovery, muku yosegi, and the 1984 traditional craft designation.

Tools and materials

Kanna (鉋): Japanese hand plane, pulled toward the body. Planes are used to true pattern pieces and, in a large form, to shave zuku. Craftsman Noboru Honma says that in yosegi "the plane is everything."
Washi (和紙): Japanese paper. Freshly shaved zuku is sometimes backed with washi to make it easier to handle.
Gelatin glue: The traditional adhesive for applying zuku, according to a Hakone local guide; stronger modern adhesives made seamless solid yosegi practical after the war.
Cotton cord: Used to bind glued unit patterns while the adhesive sets.
Molds: Jigs that hold strips at exact angles for sawing and planing; the national craft association mentions about 30 molds depending on the pattern.
Fretsaw machine: The scroll-saw machine that, according to Hatajuku workshop Hamamatsuya, prompted the development of mokuzogan in the Meiji period.

More places

Hakone-Yumoto (箱根湯本): Hot-spring town and railway gateway to Hakone; home to the Honma Yosegi Museum. Yumoto is where Hakone Town places the invention of the himitsu-bako.
Yumoto-chaya (湯本茶屋): District of Hakone named in the town's history as a center of Hakone-zaiku and the home of Shirakawa Senseki.
Odawara (小田原): City at the foot of the Hakone mountains and part of the official production area; home of kumiki-zaiku.
Ashigarashimo District: The district of Kanagawa Prefecture that includes Hakone Town; part of the production area named in the craft listing.

Sources

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