Trickbox

Hakone, Japan

Boxes that do not simply open.

This handcrafted box hides its secret behind a puzzle. Slide, twist and explore until the compartment inside gives way. Each one is made in Hakone, Japan, and decorated with the timeless yosegi-zaiku wood mosaic.

See the boxes

A half-open trick box: the lid is slid aside and the inner compartment is visible.

Quality

Wood that brings joy

Every box is created with patience and attention to detail. The delicate mechanisms and carefully oiled surfaces ensure that opening each one feels special every single time.

The collection

Selected boxes

All prices in CHF, shipping within Switzerland included.

Japanese Trick Box 4-step

Japanese Trick Box 4-step

Four moves to the compartment. The way into himitsu-bako.

A gift that does not open straight away. Four moves in the right order and the lid gives way, and under it is whatever was put inside. The patterns on the surface are yosegi zaiku from the Hakone region, a craft handed on there for generations.

  • Four moves to the compartment
  • Yosegi-zaiku mosaic, no paint and no stain
  • Made in Hakone, Japan
  • Compartment 75 x 60 x 38 mm
  • WoodYosegi Zaiku, assorted natural woods
  • Size117 x 82 x 57 mm
  • Moves4
  • Still availableSold out
CHF 40.00 shipping included, no VAT
Currently sold out
Japanese Trick Box 10-step

Japanese Trick Box 10-step

Ten moves. This is where trial and error stops working.

The harder of the two. Ten moves in a fixed order, and the box does not say whether a move was right: it simply allows it. Anyone who has never opened a secret box will sit with this one a while. Six different yosegi patterns outside, each in a different wood.

  • Ten moves to the compartment
  • Yosegi-zaiku mosaic, no paint and no stain
  • Made in Hakone, Japan
  • Compartment 104 x 79 x 44 mm
  • WoodYosegi Zaiku, assorted natural woods
  • Size150 x 97 x 68 mm
  • Moves10
  • Still availableSold out
CHF 60.00 shipping included, no VAT
Currently sold out

Craft

A pattern perfected over generations

Yosegi Zaiku, not paint

Thin layers of natural wood, worked to fractions of a millimetre and assembled into geometric patterns. Every shade is the wood's own.

Himitsu-bako, the secret box

Hakone masters have refined the mechanism over generations. The panels release one another in a fixed order, and the lid is the last thing to move.

A compartment, not a lock

Inside there is room for a note, a ring or a key. Nothing is glued shut, so the box closes again and can be passed on.

Shipping

Swiss Post, insured

  • Shipping within Switzerland only.
  • Shipping is included, no surcharge at checkout.
  • Packed in strong cardboard, dispatched within two working days.
  • Returns accepted within 30 days, unopened and unused.