It was also documented by Harry Houdini as a "Japanese hexagon puzzle box" in 1922 without the simple cube version, in the company of several other traditional models which he learned from a Japanese acquaintance.
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The Tamatebako appears in the story "Urashima Taro", where the fisherman was invited to the enchanted palace of Otohime, who is the Mistress of the Sea, after saving a turtle.