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日本語
"The room behind the shop" (editorial) - Puzzle manufacturers: Apollo - Appleone - Beverly - Cuties - Epoch - Ensky (Artbox) - Road - Tenyo - Yanoman - more history |
Update!
(15 August) The database should now be fixed, so there are no more stray funny characters... but there may still be glitches. I just discovered that all of the Peanuts puzzles had disappeared, because "artist=peanuts" was not matching "Peanuts"; so there is more to do in sorting out case-insensitive matching.
Database problem!
Apologies! A recent database upgrade has left lots of Japanese text corrupted, and also some variant characters, such as the e-acute in "Pokémon," not showing correctly. I am working to correct this but may take some days...
申し訳ありません 現在、データーベースの問題でほとんどのパズルの詳細などの日本語が文字化けになっています。修復するまで何日かかかるかも知れません。ご了承ください。
Jigsaw puzzle manufacturers
Appleone
On this page: Box contents - Appleone website - Identifying Appleone puzzles - Special orders
Appleone is a young company, founded in 1989. It offers a medium-sized range, and features interesting Japanese artists in various genres, from modern fantasy to traditional styles.
- Missing a piece from an Appleone puzzle? Help here
Box contents
In days gone by you opened a jigsaw puzzle box, and inside were just the pieces! But Japanese puzzles come with various extra bits and pieces. The assumption is that you will only do the puzzle once, then glue it together for wall mounting, to impress your friends.
1 Most important - the pieces
2 Postcard: instructions, and how to get a replacement for a missing piece. (Details on request)
3 Sachet of jigsaw puzzle glue
4 Sponge for spreading glue
Doing the puzzle
Ignore the strict instructions to do the edge pieces first: put the bits together in any order you like. If you want to display the puzzle, you can use the glue to stick it together. Spread a sheet of clean but unwanted paper under the completed puzzle, with the puzzle the right way up. Then pour the glue over the front of the puzzle: spread it out with the sponge, so all the joints get neatly filled with glue. It should dry with a nice glossy finish.
Disclaimer: I have very limited experience of gluing puzzles - I usually break them up to do again some day. But I have had some success with trompe l'oeil murals!
Please note: Actual box contents may vary. If you find any discrepancies, please let us know.
Website
The Appleone website is here: www.appleone.co.jp. Check for updates: Latest puzzles (by month).
You can start from the top level puzzle index, but it is probably easier to start from one of the following links. Each leads to a page for a topic or artist, with a selector for piece count at the top. (For example, '1000ピース' means "1000 pieces".) There are up to twenty puzzles on each page, and you can step through the pages with the navigation at the bottom (e.g. '1 2 3 >>').
The small numbers in parenthesis show the approximate number of puzzles in each category. (These are not updated in real time, and may be inaccurate.)
Mini-puzzles
Scandinavian series (5) - Plune designs (5) - The Beatles (5)
Illustration
Shu Mizoguchi (16) - Iwasaki Chihiro (3) - Fujishiro Seiji (57) - Tanikawa Hiroyuki (15) - Hideki Yoshioka (6) - Mito Nishikura (2) - Marine art (4)
Fine art
Angelo Bonito (4) - Andres Orpinas country cottages (3) - Image world (2) - Klaus Strubel (2) - Sam Park (7) - Susan Rios (1) - Steve Read (1) - Darrell Bush (2) - Chuck Pinson (1) - David MacLean (1) - Dominic Davison (15) - Nicky Boehme (6) - Randy Van Beek (2) - Richard Burns (1) - Robert Finale (1) - Classic paintings (2)
Photographs
Mt. Fuji (4) - Rest of Japan (18) - World scenery (15) - Pets (5)
Music
The Beatles (2)
Japanese art
Ozuma Kaname (4) - Kazumi (6) - Taki Keisetsu (12) (Buddhist figures with warm words) - Auspicious pictures (5)
Flowers
Flowers (15) (photographs)
Special items
Plastic mini-art with easel (8) - Clock puzzles (3)
Puzzle features
The Appleone website was redesigned in 2018, and the icons previously used to indicate special effects have disappeared. There are currently only text descriptions; here is a list of the main ones:
- 光るパズル : Glow-in-the-dark
- シルキークロス（絹目） : Silky cloth finish
- カレイド印刷 : Super vivid colour printing
- ダイヤモンドスクリーン印刷（FM） : Diamond screen super-high quality printing
- 高彩度インク : Extra vivid inks
- 裏面4分割ガイド : Quartered guide on reverse
(Updated July 2024)
Please note: Manufacturers tend to rearrange their websites from time to time, so I cannot guarantee that the above links will work. Please let me know if you find them broken.
Identifying Appleone puzzles
The Appleone product codes all start with the piece count, then a hyphen, then a code number: e.g., 1000-366 is a 1000-piece puzzle. Imaginatorium Shop item codes for Appleone all begin with 'A' followed by a condensed version, with the first two digits indicating the number of pieces. So A03___ is 300 pieces, A05___ is 500 pieces, A10___ is 1000 pieces, and A20___ is 2000 pieces.
