Cloxland was (still is?) a moniker of Santeru Co., Ltd., and the Karakuri Theater was their sole entry in the competitive karakuri clock market of early 90s Japan. The people saw it as a renegade small company trying to compete with the big names like Seiko and Rhythm. Despite the one song, Cloxland put in the effort to get a custom IC chip from Yamaha to show their dedication. They even patented the sliding door mechanism that other companies later on would start using. Unfortunately despite their best efforts, the Karakuri Theater was retired 2-3 years after launch due to difficulties with keeping up with the sales of other name brand clocks. Cloxland never attempted to make another clock of this ilk, but today their one attempt is regarded in the karakuri clock community as the "Phantom Karakuri Clock" (幻のからくり時計) or the "Legendary Karakuri Clock" (伝説のからくり時計). Export models of the Karakuri Theater were released by Maruman Products Co., Ltd. under their "Memories" label. Both versions were sold in either Roman numerals with "Karakuri Theater" written on the doors, or Arabic numerals with a crowd of people drawn on the doors, and they were available in black or brown frames. |
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