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 puzzles from Japan

Art by Fujishiro Seiji

"Fantasy in light and shade"

On this page: 1000 pieces - About the artist - Separate page for smaller puzzles

1000 pieces

The fountains of love

Musicians and dancers are all elegantly dressed for this exuberant display...

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10496 (1000-496 on package)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$24.32 €22.50 £18.85)

All about ordering (please read first)

After the rain, let the music reign

There's something northern European about the setting (shades of van Goch somehow), but the title and characters are pure Fujishiro.

This is a 'glow-in-the-dark' puzzle.

This is a glow-in-the-dark puzzle.

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 500 x 750 mm (20" x 30")
Code: A10427 (1000-427 on package)
Retail price ¥3900 (approx. US$26.35 €24.38 £20.42)

All about ordering (please read first)

Rocking horse dream

Horses from the central merry-go-round reach for the sky!

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10255 (1000-255 on package)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$24.32 €22.50 £18.85)

All about ordering (please read first)

White piano in the wind

The white piano has four (playerless) double basses one side, and four unicycles the other, plus rocking horses in the sky and all the usual Fujishiro fun...

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10653 (1000-653 on package)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$24.32 €22.50 £18.85)

All about ordering (please read first)

Phoenix reborn

A phoenix emerges from a dazzling firework display, while a lone dwarf piper stands in a boat on the river. A beautiful example of Fujishiro's work, but the large black areas will make it quite a challenge.

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10697 (1000-697 on package)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$24.32 €22.50 £18.85)

All about ordering (please read first)

Elfin paradise

A very musical paradise! The chorus of pipers is supported by a number of pianos and harps scattered among the trees.

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10848 (1000-848 on package)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$24.32 €22.50 £18.85)

All about ordering (please read first)

The dwarfs and the pond lilies

A simple scene — a wood plank walkway of a kind common in swamp areas in the mountains of Japan threads through a thicket of trees, the water beneath it full of restrained yet elegant mizubashō lilies, while Fujishiro's dwarfs play music overhead.

The plant mizubashō is not really a lily, and is apparently known in English as "Asian skunk cabbage" and you can look it up in Wikipedia under its Latin name of Lysichiton camtschatcensis. In fact there is no evidence that this plant has a foul smell, only that it is related to the Western skunk cabbage of North America.

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10696 (1000-696 on package)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$24.32 €22.50 £18.85)

All about ordering (please read first)

Hymn of life

A classic Fujishiro scene: the instruments, pianos, drums, and brass, seem to be underwater, but the big wheel stands well above the lake. A fun-packed puzzle!

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10829 (1000-829 on package)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$24.32 €22.50 £18.85)

All about ordering (please read first)

Everlasting flame in the magical forest

A forest full of elfin creatures, in typical Fujishiro style. The tree in the middle is unusual: instead of his usual abstract varieties, it is fairly clearly a tochi, or Japanese horse chestnut.

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10831 (1000-831 on package)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$24.32 €22.50 £18.85)

All about ordering (please read first)

Rocking horse dream of the stars

Rocking horses, accompanied–naturally–by grand pianos, as trains sail through the starry sky...

This is a glow-in-the-dark puzzle.

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10426 (1000-426 on package)
Retail price ¥3900 (approx. US$26.35 €24.38 £20.42)

All about ordering (please read first)

Symphony of the leaves

The usual panoply of leaves and lighthouses set the scene for the harps and pianos that will provide the music – accompanied by a lone cellist and a flautist.

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10838 (1000-838 on package)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$24.32 €22.50 £18.85)

All about ordering (please read first)

Joy of living, 2011

Perhaps this is Fujishiro's version of the Tree of Life, inspired more by music than biology...

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10830 (1000-830 on package)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$24.32 €22.50 £18.85)

All about ordering (please read first)

Flower garden symphony

Classic Fujishiro fantasy in a musical vein. The usual dwarves, french horns, and some flying cellos, plus a new interpretation of "piano roll"... in this case the keyboard spills out across the flower beds.

In stock
An Appleone puzzle: 1000 pieces; 750 x 500 mm (30" x 20")
Code: A10863 (1000-863 on package)
Retail price ¥3600 (approx. US$24.32 €22.50 £18.85)

All about ordering (please read first)

Fujishiro Seiji

Born in 1924, Fujishiro has had a long and productive career as an illustrator - producing many children's books, and creating his own brand of fantasy along the way. From an early involvement with shadow puppetry, he developed his own unique style: he calls these kage-e (literally "shadow pictures"), but his is a backlit world not of black and white (or grey), but of wonderful translucent colours, apparently made mostly from tissue paper.

As of January 2020, he is still active in his nineties, and his work has appeared all over the world.

News item from February 2005

Here's a review of his show at the Japan Information and Culture Center in Washington DC: "Symphony of Light and Shadow" (from the Washington Post).

Note: The translations of titles are mine.

Deleted puzzles

For reference: you can view all the Fujishiro puzzles that are out of print in the Attic.