Go board craftsman Mr. Keiji MIWA made Japan grown Hon kaya 1.0 sun Itame 1-piece Table Go Board No.78019

■History
Miwa Gobanten is a long-established Go board manufacturer and shop in Nagoya, that was founded in 1917, with the history of more than 100 years. Now the workshop and shop are owned and operated by Mr. Keiji MIWA with his official artist name "KEIHO". He is the third generation owner, following Mr. Saburo MIWA as the first generation and Mr. Yasuharu MIWA as the second generation. The origin dates back to the first owner Mr Saburo MIWA, who was a craftsman of Hako Hibachi (box type brazier), loved Shogi and Igo very much. Saburo learnt from one craftsman in Osaka how to make Shogi and Go boards.

■Philosophy and Passion: Identifying wood quality and professional drying technique
We are highly proud of the quality of our boards but also all the process starting from selecting material wood through drying technique. Currently. The third generation owner Mr. Keiji MIWA has visited a lot of lumber markets all over Japan to see and feel as many as wood as possible with his own eyes and identification skill, even though many Japanese Go board manufacturers depend only on distributors to purchase material woods.
Supported by his long experience, Mr. Keiji MIWA acquired a special skill to identify the best wood to make best Go and Shogi boards, making their products truly valuable that we are able to proudly introduce to our customers. Especially we want to emphasize their splendid drying process. Miwa Gobanten has kept natural drying method, among them some of the wood are dried for more than 10 years long.

■Philosophy and Passion: Carving on legs
People say that carving on board legs always requires patience of craftsman. Carving work using a small knife is not a simple work. They finish carving and engraving just a few pieces in a day. Furthermore, it also requires additional polishing work that usually takes several days more to finish.

■Philosophy and Passion: tachimori
The symbol of high-end Go and Shogi board is Tachimori, making lines on board using a Japanese sword. Miwa Gobanten adopts a special Tachimori technique called ‘Yarai’. They apply Japanese lacquer on the tip of sword blade and gently press and print it down on the wooden board. This method enables them to make beautiful, gentle, smooth and elegant lines that can be only accomplished by a manual work. These boards with Tachimori lines are true value of Miwa Keiji as the top artisan in this field.

He has long experience in board making and knows how the weather and humidity will affect lacquer conditions. He accumulated all kinds of data so that he will able to fully utilize these information in his Tachimori process. Japanese lacquer as painting material is hard to handle as it is easily affected by temperature and humidity. By fully utilizing both of his experience and accumulated data, he always tries to produce the best of best quality Go and Shogi boards from his workshop.

This board’s wood cutting style is "Itame", so top and bottom surface has large Itame part.
The board is relatively light and easy to handle, with a thickness of approximately about 33 mm and a weight of approximately about 3.2 kg.
Since the raw material of Japan grown Hon-Kaya is depleted, this board is very valuable to have 1-piece board.
The wood color is wonderful, and it is a gem that you can fully enjoy the aroma and touch of Hon-Kaya.
Top and bottom has a small intergrown knots.
One side has wide color spots derived from the wood materials.
*Please check the photo images.

"Itame" board is characterized by the presence of large itame (flat grain) with little or no Masame (vertical grain) on the top and bottom surface.
Many thin boards have this itame, which is prone to cracking and deformation.

*Wood cutting style details in "How to choose a board".
Please take a look.
Go to "How to choose a board".

Kaya is regarded as one of the best materials to make Go and Shogi boards, because of its good sound and feel when placing the stones, moderate elasticity, beautiful grain, color, gloss and luster, and aroma.
There are three types of kaya trees: "Hyuga Kaya" which is grown and harvested in a mountainous area in the southern part of Kyushu, Japan, "Japanese-grown honkaya" which is grown in other areas of Japan, and "Chinese-grown honkaya" which is mainly grown in Yunnan Province, China.
Generally, Japanese-grown honkaya is said to be better than Chinese honkaya in terms of quality.
The main difference between Japanese and Chinese kaya is the wood quality, caused by the natural environment where the tree was grown. Japanese kaya is usually lighter and more yellowish in color and has a unique wood aroma.
Depending on your preference, Japanese kaya is generally more highly valued than Chinese kaya, and the value and price of Japanese kaya tends to be higher due to the rarity of the wood.

In order to make a one-piece Go/Shogi board or board with legs, it is necessary to get a large tree between 200 and 800 years old.However, since logging is now prohibited in many forests in Japan, large-diameter kaya wood is almost impossible to find on the market.
The procurement of kaya is becoming more and more difficult and the Japanese honkaya Go board is getting rarer year on year.

*Go board materials are explained detail in "How to choose a board".
Please take a look.
Go to "How to choose a board".

Product
board craftsman Mr. Keiji MIWA made Japan grown Hon kaya 1-piece table Go Board
Itame 1.0 sun / 3.3 cm thick
Item No.78019
Size : (height × width × thick)
460 mm × 430 mm × 33 mm
Weight : About 3.2kg
Included：Certificate

Please bear the actual cost for shipping charges outside Japan.

You may find small knots, burrs, rolled-in bark as all these products are made of natural trees.
There may be some small flaw or scratch, dent, chipping.