Board craftsman Mr.Torayoshi Yoshida made Japan grown Kaya Masame 1.8-Sun(75 mm thick) 3-pieces table Go board No.79075F

One side has color stain.
The bottom, the top and one side have some intergrown knots.
*Please check the photo images.

When the material itself is too large in diameter to make a one-piece board, or when the board cannot be made from a single piece of wood for any reason, it is sometimes made by joining pieces of wood together.

A board made in this way is called a "tsugi-ban" or "hagi-ban" (joined or composite board).
There are several types of these boards and the ones with a fewer number of pieces, with less variation in color and grain, are regarded as more valuable.
When using a composite board, we collect material wood that is as close as possible in wood color and grain in order to make the board as consistent as possible.
Then, the joints are precisely calculated and bonded together so that the lines are placed right over the joints as much as possible. (Not ensured in some cases)

In fact, we spend more time and effort to produce tsugi-ban boards, which are slightly less valuable than one-piece boards.
The composite board also has some advantages: since multiple pieces of material are joined in parallel, each piece is narrower and less prone to warping.

* "composition board" is explained detail in "How to choose a board".
Please take a look.
Go to "How to choose a board".

Yoshida Gobanten was established in 1916 and continuously made various Go and Shogi boards for more than 100years.
The owner takes over the name of 'Master Yoshida Torayoshi' for generations.
All the boards made by the 3rd and 4th generation of Yoshida Torayoshi, the present owner, have engraved words of Ichi-jo (一如) in Chinese character, as the evidence of his work.
The word 'Ichi-jo' is a part of famous four-character idiom 'Busshin Ichi-nyo (物心一如)', that literally means 'matter and mind are one/body and mind as one'.
This implies a strong will that when we make boards, our board and mind are as one.
The engraved words 'Ichi-jo (一如)' is the evidence of Go master, who made this board with his spirit and board as one.
We are happy to offer these special boards made by the Go board master Mr. YOSHIDA Torayoshi, for his devotion and his long years of experience and outstanding technique.

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".

"Ten-masa" cutting style has masame (straight grain) only on the top surface of the board.
The bottom surface has itame (flat grain).
The general masame boards belong to this type.
The top surface is beautifully finished so the ten-masa board is highly valued.

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

• Board craftsman Mr.Torayoshi Yoshida made Japan groen Kaya Ten-masa 1.8-Sun(56 mm thick) 3-pieces table Go board
  Product No.: No.79075F
  Size (height×width×thick)：453 mm × 424 mm × 56 mm
  Weight：about 4.84 kg
  Included：Certificate

• 1,000 JPY flat rate shipping within Japan, free shipping for purchases totaling 20,000 JPY or more.
  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.