When Iwahiro interviewed Yoshiyuki Ninomiya back in 2006 for
an article in CFF (recently published in CFF #92), he’d been crafting wooden masterpieces
for 61 years. And he’s still creating highly desirable puzzles for admirers and
collectors around the world today.
Whenever the Karakuri Club offers anything by Ninomiya, it’s
only ever done as a lottery because they know it’ll be massively
over-subscribed and the only way to ensure fairness is to randomly select lucky
punters from those who’re interested in acquiring the latest piece… I’ve put my
name down for them a few times and never been lucky.
A short while ago my puzzle-supplier-in-chief got in touch and
asked if I’d be interested in buying a new Ninomiya puzzle – my reaction was
pretty predictable and a few days later I was opening a huge box from the
Netherlands. There were a couple of little things and then the main event: a rather
large puzzle box with a caged ball peeking out through round holes in the sides
of the box. I think that the puzzle had been created for a special Karakuri
exhibition last year and there weren’t a lot of them around, so felt very
chuffed to have been offered this particular copy.
Initial impressions are that this isn’t a small puzzle –
petite she ain’t! You can tell form the fact that my trusty two pound coin
looks pretty insignificant next to this one.
First order of business is to find you way into the box – it’s
non-trivial, but not super difficult – and there’s a nice unusual bit in there
that you might not be expecting. Take the lid off and you’re left with the burr
cage with its trapped ball standing neatly on the base of the box.
The burr cage is the standard design that we’ve all seen a
hundred times, but the execution is incredible. There’s no sloppiness whatsoever.
Until you try doing the right thing, there’s no give at all. Try the right
movements and it’s as smooth as butter.
Disassemble the cage and the perfectly round wooden ball is
released – the goal of the puzzle… but you’ll probably want to spend some more
time just playing around with the burr cage, even though you know exactly how
it works because the fit is just so perfect and the locking is spot on.
One of the neat little extra details is that bit of
decoration on the top of the box – it’s actually a little turntable with a
stand on it for the burr cage – so you can display it on top of the pedestal at
an angle so it looks at its best.
My first Ninomiya piece isn’t a traditional Ninomiya puzzle
box – but it’s rather unusual and still manages to show off his incredible
skill as a craftsman – well into his eighties. It’s not hard to see why his
work has such an incredible international following – it really is something
special!
