By YOSHITO ASAKURA/ Staff Writer
September 13, 2023 at 07:30 JST
Each face of the gilded Rubik’s Cube is coated with gold leaf made with a different alloy ratio. (Yoshito Asakura)
KANAZAWA--Solving a special Rubik’s Cube edition designed by local firm Age Design Co. may be good for the brain but hard on the wallet.
The latest in the “Takumi” series of Kogei Rubik’s Cubes made using this ancient city’s traditional craft techniques comes with six faces coated with gold leaf.
The gold leaf, which Kanazawa is famed for its production, adds a touch of prestige to the cube but at a steep price. The 3-D combination puzzle is being sold for 300,000 yen ($2,000), including tax.
Age Design approached MegaHouse Corp., a Tokyo-based subsidiary of Bandai Namco Group that distributes Rubik’s Cubes, to produce special editions.
The goal of Yohei Inagaki, president of Age Design, was to promote traditional craft techniques from the Hokuriku region, including Ishikawa Prefecture whose capital is Kanazawa.
“Kanazawa is synonymous with gold leaf. I had always wanted to make a gold leaf-coated version,” said Inagaki. “I hope people can feel close to traditional arts and crafts and enjoy using them in their daily lives.”
Each cube face is coated with gold leaf in six colors, including white and pink, created by different alloy ratios.
Fine artisanship skills are required to affix gold leaf on each of the 54 panels.
In the past, Age Design designed two other special Rubik Cube versions.
The Gosai--a Rubik’s Cube made with Kutani-yaki porcelain from Nomi, Ishikawa Prefecture--was released in February 2022 for 99,000 yen.
Then, the Oriihassyoku--which features traditional copperware techniques from Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture--was introduced in November that year for 220,000 yen.
The third and latest offering is the gilded version.
Kanazawa accounts for 99 percent of gold leaf production in Japan.
About 60 goldsmiths are based in the prefectural capital and vicinity, except for one artisan who works outside the prefecture, according to the Cooperative Association for the Leaf Trade and Industry of Ishikawa Prefecture.
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