Music boxes have always fascinated me. Mom used to have one with a twirling ballerina – I remember how the dainty ballerina would flip and lie down when you shut the lid and bounce up again when you opened the box.
When I was last in Japan, I was delighted to find a museum entirely dedicated to mechanical music. This was the Kawaguchiko Music Forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. Here are a few pictures of the inner workings of some of the music boxes, which are truly intricate. Hat-tip to the craftsmen who designed and made these.
Posted in response to the Weekly Photo Challenge – Intricate
Dementia, Caregiving and Life in General 
Totally neat, indeed. Those things were a brilliant invention.
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Amazing.
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I cannot imagine the intricate work that goes into music boxes etc. I’ve always been fascinated too. Thanks for sharing. Now I’m really intrigued. ❤
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They really are mechanical wonders, which I fear will soon be a lost art.
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So much is going by the wayside because of our technological age. Sometimes progress is ruinous not progress, I fear.
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I have a precious Swiss music box that plays snippets of two songs, one being The Blue Danube Waltz, the other a tune called Rose Marie. Inside the wooden top is a sliding piece of glass that allows you to see the roll and mechanism. I have been fascinated by this treasure since I was a very young girl! I love its sound, delicate, happy.
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Does yours play in strict timing or does the music have a natural rubato? I wonder whether the craftsmen with musical sensibilities made better music boxes with the slight irregularities than when computers and machines made the drums.
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It plays in strict timing, except when it’s winding down, going slower and slower.
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Thanks! I have a box that doesn’t slow down, and just stops abruptly
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With mine, I can throw a switch and stop it abruptly at the end of the song.
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