Japanese master Yoshio Okiyama, was a third generation secret-box maker who was taught by his father, Yoshitaro Okiyama, who in turn was taught by his father, Tatsunosuke Okiyama, one of the 3 original founders of this art form dating back to sometime after 1870.

Aloha from paradise.  For this week’s installment, Boxes and Booze has gone on location.  It was time to discuss another one of master puzzle maker Perry McDaniel’s fine confectionery creations, the “Hawaiian Hijinks Cake”.  In order to fully appreciate the puzzling nature of this finely crafted delicacy I felt compelled to seek out its inspirational source.

Let's take a little excursion off the beaten path this time.  In fact, it will be more like ducking under the roped off barrier and wandering in the off-limits area where we aren't necessarily supposed to go, only to find something very interesting. 

In many parts of Japan the New Year’s Eve celebration includes a very traditional dish of soba noodles, called “toshikoshi”, which translates as “climbing” or “jumping” from the old year to the new.

A great example of one of these annual puzzle box treats with a sense of humor is the “Wrapping Box” by Kyoko Hoshino.  It was created to resemble an actual present, wrapping paper and all, complete with a ribbon and little bells.  Hoshino likes to incorporate cloth and other unusual materials into her designs.  In this case, the puzzle box is all wrapped up in festive cloth.  You can feel the box inside, but you can’t unwrap it.  How will you open it?

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a seven year old boy went to the movies with his grandparents on his birthday.  He was just as thrilled as everyone else, watching what would become one of the icons of popular culture in our time.

Would you like to hear a secret?  Who doesn’t like to be in on a good secret?  Mysteries, codes, hidden treasures, all excite because in part they hold a secret which we might be able to access, if we are clever enough.  The allure of the puzzle box relies on the secret, on knowing there is a hidden way in, and on finding it if we can.

Einstein first presented his theory of general relativity on November 25, 1915, in front of the Prussian Academy of Science, which makes this Thanksgiving season one with some serious gravity.  General relativity upped the ante from “special relativity”, which he introduced 10 years earlier, by adding acceleration to the mix. 

Get ready to exercise both sides of your brain for this installment.  You’ll need the logical left side and the artistic right side to fully appreciate this particular puzzle pair pairing and potion pair pairing, and puzzle and potion pairing.

At the risk of becoming boxed in, I present a box which turns things inside out for me, as I find myself inside of it.  The creative woodworker Tracy Woods Clemons, from Rochester, New York, has been making her designs in wood for many years. 

One of the most ambitious collaborative puzzle box projects in recent times was The Apothecary Box, a puzzle chest created by Robert Yarger (aka “Stickman”) which itself holds 12 individual puzzle boxes created by prominent designers from around the world.

Nestled in the dangerous shadows deep inside one of America’s secret spy enclaves, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, lives Stephen Kirk, who describes himself as a former “technology guy” in the corporate world who specialized in “data visualization / analytics”. 

Lest I be made to walk the plank for insubordination, I present the Pirates Box by Tatsuo Miyamoto of the Karakuri Creation Group. He explains that a pirate ship wharf mural on the wall of the new Sekisyo Karakuri Art Museum in Hakone Japan, the home of the Karakuri group, inspired him to create this puzzle box.