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 May
Friendly Jizo puzzles by long-running artist Kuroiwa Toyotaka - 300 to 2542 (very!) small pieces — 15% off (in addition to standard 10% discount off all puzzles!
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
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
Latest movie themes...
More fantasy puzzles, including new artists Takaki and Kazuha
More Ghibli puzzles...
And more...
Chit-chat
—May—
Attempt at world record puzzle ...goes wrong. (From the Guardian)
—Recent news (April)—
Incredible though it seems, the 15th of April was our eleventh anniversary, and we decided to repeat last year's successful Anniversary Sale. Meanwhile it looks as though our long struggle with ever-rising yen levels (and effectively higher prices for our puzzles) are over, meaning that prices in our customers' home currencies have typically fallen by more than 20% from the peak levels in early 2012. We hope this will continue, giving better and better prices for you, but meanwhile we cannot sustain the current discount level indefinitely. Here's what I found (my own notes!) in the module that calculates discounts...
// ****************************************
// ***SPECIAL 10th ANNIVERSARY*** : 20%
// while yen index < 400 : 10%
// while yen index < 350 : 15%
// ***SPECIAL 11th ANNIVERSARY*** : 20%
This "yen index" is a simple recipe: add the number of yen obtained at the curent PayPal rates for a euro, a pound, and a dollar. So in January 2012 it was €=94 + £=114 + $=74, total 282. It is now somewhere just below 400, so for the time being we will go back to flat 10% at the end of April; eventually it will return to the graduated discount on order size.
Don't lose out! People have asked about puzzles temporarily out of stock, or special orders... as long as you make the order in April, you will get the special discount even if you have to wait for the puzzle to arrive. (Note there will also 24 hours or so grace, to allow for timezones and stuff like that.)
As business has picked up over recent months, we'll be expanding our range of puzzles further. There are new artists coming, and in particular we'll add more fantasy art, and more of the huge range of anime characters in the Artbox range. Just ask if there are specific titles you are interested in. And there are more "small piece" puzzles: the first "tiny 1000" puzzles from Tenyo were billed as the World's smallest (1000 pieces at A3 size, 420 x 297 mm), but these were beaten by Beverly: 1000 pieces at 380 x 260 mm (standard 300 size). Now Epoch, or officially its subsidiary Apollo enters the fray with 1053 pieces at the same standard 300 size. There are so many different "small" and "tiny" pieces now that I hope soon to have a system in place to show the actual piece size for these puzzles...
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!
