VIP Japanese Dice Puzzle *****

This puzzle is made of padouk wood, maple and black walnut and consists of 12 pieces. It´s packed into a very nice carton box with a magnetic closure.
Little is known about the early history of this puzzle design but puzzles very similar to this were certainly already produced in both Asian and European countries as early as the 18th century. In the 1803 catalogue of Fa. Bestelmeier, a German toy manufacturer, there were 2 images of such puzzles.
Puzzles of this type were mainly made in Germany, but by the late 1930s the market had been largely captured by Japanese manufacturers. Yamanaka Kumiki Works Co. being one of them. Since then, this particular puzzle system can be found in serveral geometrically shaped puzzles, such as a sphere, a cube, a barrel, etc.... Japanese puzzles of this kind are called, you´ll never guess, "Kumiki" and are believed to be related to the traditional construction of wooden buildings where no nails or glue were used.
Warning! Not suitable for children under 36 months.