Board craftsman Mr. Torayoshi YOSHIDA made Japan grown Kaya Tenchi-masa 1.8-Sun (about 56 mm thick) Table Shogi Board No.89034F

There are some remnants of the bark on the top surface, but there are no other noticeable defects, and the grain of Tenchi-masa is straight and beautiful.
Rolled-in wood peels remain on the top.
*Please check the pictures.

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 master, who made this board with his spirit and board as one.
We are happy to offer these special boards made by the board master Mr. YOSHIDA Torayoshi, for his devotion and his long years of experience and outstanding technique.

"Tenchi-masa" literally means the grain runs from the top to the bottom or from the sky (ten) to the earth (chi).
As there is no visible itame (flat grain), you can see the beautiful masame (straight grain) from the top to the bottom of the board.
When the top and bottom surfaces have masame (straight grain) but the side has itame (flat grain), the board is classified as tenchi-masa.
Just like the shihou-masa board, the tenchi-masa board is made from a large-diameter, well-aged tree.
The kaya (Japanese Torreya) tenchi-masa board is synonymous with the finest Go boards made of valuable wood.
Also, most of the boards called tsugi-ban or hagi-ban (composition boards made from several pieces of wood joined together) have tenchi-masa or masame (straight grain).

*Go board cutting styles are explained detail 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".

• Board craftsman Mr. Torayoshi YOSHIDA made Japan grown Kaya Tenchi-masa 1.8-Sun (about 56 mm thick) Table Shogi Board盤
  Product No.：No.89034F
  Size (height×width×thick)：373 mm × 342 mm × 56 mm
  Weight：About 3.5 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.