Welcome to the Imaginatorium Shop, now in our twelfth year!
From our base in Japan (here!), we send jigsaw puzzles anywhere in the world. Most of the hundreds of puzzles we have in stock feature oriental themes, but the high quality of Japanese-made puzzles (exquisite printing, really solid card stock, and clean cutting) also makes "reverse imports" highly desirable — puzzles of Peanuts, Disney, and lots of other Western characters popular in Japan. In general, if a puzzle is available in Japan, we can get it for you within a week or so - see the special orders page.
- Contents page - full shop guide, including navigation links at the top of each page
- Bargains! - reduced prices on selected puzzles
- Top ten - best-selling puzzles
- Last chance! - only one left of each of these puzzles...
- Artists - a complete list
- Special orders - when you can't find the puzzle you are looking for
- Missing pieces - help when you have the puzzle but can't find a piece!
Feature of the month for June
Dazzlingly different puzzles by artist Kayo Horaguchi: these collages are puzzles in themselves. Details emerge one by one as your eye passes over them...
Still plenty of puzzles in the Jumbo bargain sale at least 50% off... and still we'll be adding more from our collection of puzzles, usually returned from worldwide travel, with dented boxes. Full list of other special offers).
(All special offers subject to current stock availability)
2013 — Year of the Snake
10% discount on all puzzle orders
May 2013 The yen continues to fall, around 20% from the peak, so in most currencies prices are at levels not seen since 2008. But for the time being we will keep an across-the-board 10% discount in place. The graph on the right shows how purchasing power has changed since the crash at the end of 2008, taking the rates before the crash as a base of 100.
Latest additions
New page: classics of western art... a collection of well-known masterpieces, mostly with small and tiny pieces
More One Piece puzzles (Yes, I know it sounds funny... there's a total of 3950 pieces here.)
Flower fairies... dainty paintings from Cicely Mary Barker, English illustrator of the early twentieth century.
Hello Kitty -- new postcard size puzzles, 108 tiny pieces! (And more: these titles in 300 pieces and 1000 tiny pieces)
More tiny pieces! Tenyo started this: their "tiny 1000" puzzles were billed as "World's smallest" (A3 size: 420 x 297 mm), next the Beverly ones are 1000 pieces at 380 x 260 mm (standard 300 size), and now Apollo have 1053 pieces at the same standard 300 size...
New Disney artist — Rodel Gonzalez
More fantasy puzzles, including new artists Takaki and Kazuha
And more...
Chit-chat
—May—
But first... seen on the web
Attempt at world record puzzle ...goes wrong. (From the Guardian)
Looking at the box
To me, part of the fun of doing a puzzle is not looking at the box. I remember many years ago, persuading my Mum to take the puzzle out of the box, and give me the bag of pieces as a Christmas present. (I also don't start from the edge pieces, but that's a different story.)
Epoch (together with its new subsidiary Apollo) has been generating one new puzzle "feature" after another in the last few years... smaller and smaller pieces, combination puzzles, double-sided, and more. But you will see why some of the latest ideas leave me rather bemused, because unless you look at the box, they make no difference at all!
The first picture on the right shows a "Part picture" puzzle, in which the box only shows a part of the whole image. This will definitely add something to the difficulty if you are used to doing everything against the box. On the left is a new version of a Haruyo best-seller, this time with a subtle difference between the box and the puzzle. Well, the Japanese says 間違い探し, which is how you say "Look for the mistake!" but also how you say "Look for the mistakes!" I can only find one difference in Haruyo's Scarlet, but who knows, you might find two or more.
Finally, the Nishino tigers on the right appear reflected in a mirror. So if you do the puzzle while comparing with the box, there will be some extra mental gymnastics to match things up. Note that all three of these puzzles are either currently available or have been in the past in standard puzzle versions, so (no more help but) if you hunt through the website you can find the completed pictures.
Read more of these blog entries
- Best-selling puzzles: Top ten.
- Browse the complete list of artists.
- How to display puzzles on the wall without needing to buy a frame: Murals!
- Despite the FAQ, we can supply frames by special order: more information.
- Yes, we sell glue! Yanoman puzzle glue (200 g), 350 yen Add to basket (Standard PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) puzzle glue - every puzzle that we sell includes a small packet, but when you need extra, one of these bottles should be enough for around six 1000-piece puzzles.)
- Manufacturer details:
Apollo -
Appleone -
Artbox -
Beverly -
Epoch -
Road -
Tenyo -
Yanoman -
more historical info
- Any other problems or just questions - please ask!
About ordering
The details under each puzzle show the price, with approximate equivalents in US dollars, euros, and pounds sterling.
Click "Buy this puzzle" to go straight to the checkout with a single puzzle, or "Add to basket" to carry on shopping. At the checkout, you can select the shipping method, then choose how you are going to buy the puzzle(s). If you have any questions or problems, just use the forms provided to ask, and we'll get back to you. Once we receive confirmation of a payment, we aim to despatch puzzles by the next working day.
You do not need to create a PayPal account in order to make a payment; the total is in yen, but you will be charged in your 'home currency', and you will be able to check the final amount before confirming payment.
You can pay by major credit card, eCheck in the US,
and bank transfer in many countries.
As you can see in the pile of puzzles on the left, most of the writing on the box is in Japanese, so we also include printed details with each shipment. Click these thumbnails for descriptions...
(Sorry! You can't see the "pile of boxes", because your browser does not support the functions necessary.)
Other items from Imaginatorium Shop
Français - Deutsch - Italiano - Español
If you're an enthusiast who would like to share in marketing in other languages, please contact me.
Finally...
The Shop is only part of my website, the Imaginatorium - I hope you will have time to explore some of the other pages!
