On this page: Box contents - Epoch website - Identifying Epoch puzzles - Special orders
Epoch is a general toy and hobby manufacturer, considerably larger than the other puzzle companies. Their puzzle division still bears the name "Central Hobby," one of a number of puzzle companies they have acquired. For some more details, see the manufacturers page.
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 Advertising
3 Instructions: how to do the puzzle, or order a catalog (¥1000) from Epoch
4 Missing piece card (details on request)
5 Warning about gluing the puzzle. Avoid spreading the glue in a single direction, because this may make the puzzle stretch slightly so that it won't fit in the standard frame. Check the size as you are applying the glue, using circular strokes, and being careful to avoid uneven distribution.
6 Service card; marked "Available only in Japan"
7 Foil sachet of puzzle glue
8 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 slightly - if you find any major discrepancies, please let us know.
Website
The Epoch website is fairly easy to view, with thumbnails everywhere. But instead of each category of puzzles being on a separate page, they are arranged on enormous pages, and occasionally a category may continue onto the next page. Each of the links below should jump to the right point within the page, but if you reach the bottom of the page, try clicking the 次ページ link for the next page. See the example on the right...
Each genre has an index page — the (list) link — but unless you can read Japanese the list of topics included will not be much help.
The small numbers in parenthesis show the approximate number of puzzles in each category. (These may be inaccurate or missing.)
Puzzles by genre
Marine fantasy (list): Christian Riese Lassen (29)
Art (list): Yasukawa Shinji (4) - Kuroiwa Toyotaka (2) - Auspicious painting (6) - Harai Kayomi (24) - Mandalas (7) - Morita Haruyo (23) - Kimura Keigo (2) - Nakajima Chinami (1) - Yoshida Keiji (13) - Oda Yoshio (4) - Peter Motz (10) - Sasakura Teppei (9) - Kentaro Nishino (26) - Wildlife (5) - Fairies - Western classics (30) - Woodblock prints (3) (Ukiyo-e masterpieces) - Kirk Reinert (3) - Auspicious emblems (1) - Charles Wysocki (2) - Watase (6) - Coca Cola posters
Characters (list): Sylvanian families - Devil Kings (14) (known in Japan as Sengoku Basara) - Suzumiya (14) - Lucky Star - Racehorses - Wasao (dog character)
Pets (list): Puppies (30) - Kittens (24) - Rabbits (4) - Pandas
Flowers (list): Colour therapy - Flower arrangements - Aroma puzzles (2)
Scenic (list): Spring (11) - Early summer - Autumn (13) - Winter - Night views - Fireworks - Floral landscape - Gardens - Temples (18) - Castles (11) - Waterfalls - Mt. Fuji (13) - Tokyo tower (6) - World views - World heritage (64) - Tropical resort (7) - Flower gardens - Street flowers - Railway journey - Power spots (6) - Characterful cats
Transport (list): Trains - Battleships - Space exploration
Personalities (list): Saotome Taichi (female impersonation actor)
Historical (list): Historical figures
Maps (list): Maps (2) - More maps
Monotone collection (list): Robert Doisneau (1) - Kim Anderson
"Expert" series
Ultra-expert - Double-sided super-expert (10) - Super-expert - Combination 1500+400 puzzles - Expert - Expert panorama format - Want-to-be-expert - Slightly expert
Puzzles by piece count
108 pieces (13) - 108 large pieces - 216 small pieces - 300 pieces - 420 small-piece panorama (18) - 450 small pieces - 500 pieces - 759 small pieces (13) - 954 pieces (panorama) - 1000 pieces - 1014 small pieces (9) - 1500 small pieces (60) - 1500 + 400 small pieces (14) - 1518 small pieces (24) (panorama) - 2000 pieces (4) - 2016 small pieces (60) - Double-sided 2016 small pieces (7) - 3000 small pieces (16)
Icons used on the Epoch site
Piece counts for standard size pieces
Small pieces
Very small pieces
Large pieces
Very large pieces
(Updated June 2011)
Identifying Epoch puzzles
All current Epoch product codes are five digits: 26-030, 06-011, 11-152, 20-109 and so on. The first two digits indicate the price (and usually the number of pieces), but not in an obvious way. When Imaginatorium Shop started there were a number of completely different schemes - for example 1000SN-214F - but now the Imaginatorium Shop item code is simply an 'E' followed by the code omitting the hyphen.
Note: I cannot guarantee the above information about prices, which is simply deduced from the Epoch catalog.
